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White Bear Lake native makes NASA astronaut training class [Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.](Saint Paul Pioneer Press (MN) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) June 18--Somewhere in his family's archives, there is a picture of 16-year-old Josh Cassada with his head in a cardboard space helmet. Turns out the silly shot snapped more than 20 years ago was a foreshadowing of events to come. The 39-year-old White Bear Lake native was named one of eight members of NASA's 2013 astronaut trainee class Monday. More than 6,000 people applied for the limited spots, the second largest number ever received by the space agency. They will report for duty in August at Johnson Space Center in Houston and join 49 astronauts currently at NASA. The group comprises the agency's first new class of astronauts in four years. "It's something he has been after for a long time and he achieved it," said Jack Cassada, Josh Cassada's father. "I need to dig up that picture." Jack Cassada and his wife Darlene still own a home in White Bear Lake, though they are now considered Florida residents. Josh Cassada could not be reached for comment. "As parents we'd like to take credit for it, but this is really about (Josh's) drive and desire. As he does with everything, he went after this with about 110 to 120 percent," Jack Cassada said. Though born in California, Josh Cassada and his sister, Jessie, grew up in White Bear Lake. He graduated from White Bear Lake Area High School in 1991 and attended Albion College in Michigan for his undergrad, where he earned a degree in physics. He went on to receive his master's and doctorate degrees in high energy physics from the Rochester Institute of Technology. He followed his father's footsteps in 2000 when he joined the U.S. Navy. After serving a tour in Iraq, the naval aviator worked as the Navy's acceptance and test pilot for airplanes coming off the Boeing production line in Seattle, his dad said. He recently moved to Michigan to run an electronics firm he recently cofounded called Quantum Opus. Jack Cassada is one of our four men in the new class, all of whom have military backgrounds. Four women were also selected, including the first female fighter pilot to become an astronaut in nearly two decades. The ratio represents the largest percentage of female astronauts every selected by NASA. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said the new candidates will help lead the first human mission to an asteroid in the 2020s, and then Mars, sometime in the following decade. They also may be among the first to fly to the space station aboard commercial spacecraft launched from the U.S., he noted. Russia ferries the astronauts now. "These new space explorers asked to join NASA because they know we're doing big, bold things here -- developing missions to go farther into space than ever before," Bolden said in a statement. Jack Cassada said he doesn't know which potential space adventure most excites his son. "I wanted to send him to the moon as a teenager but that was me," Jack Cassada joked. "As he does with everything, I am sure he is keeping all his options open. The first step will be to get through the arduous training." The Associated Press contributed. Sarah Horner can be reached at 651-228-5539. Follow her at twitter.com/hornsarah. ___ (c)2013 Pioneer Press (St. Paul, Minn.) Visit the Pioneer Press (St. Paul, Minn.) at www.twincities.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |