mark@cbosgd.UUCP (Mark Horton) (12/23/83)
Well, a few weeks ago, a note was posted to this newsgroup saying that mission specialists were being sought. It arrived on cbosgd on Monday, Nov. 28. Well, being your typical red blooded all-american boy, and happening to have some of the qualifications, I thought "Wow! Why not?" I figured I'd never make it, but I knew I had to try. So I called directory assistance in Washington DC and asked for the number for NASA's personnel dept. I called that number and asked for the application form, then mentioned that I was interested in the mission specialist position. The woman gave me a phone number in Houston that was handling that program. I called the Houston number. A woman answered the phone who sounded like she was used to dealing with winos. No doubt she had gotten a whole lot of calls. I asked for the application form. She pointed out that it had to be postmarked by Dec. 1st (Thursday). I said to send it and I'd get it to them immediately. Well, Thursday's mail came and the application was still not there. I figured "well, I'll send a resume and cover letter to get the postmark by the first, and then send in the application when I got it. But I didn't have an address to send it to. So I called the same phone number, and got the same woman. She would not give me an address. She said if the application itself was not postmarked by the first of December, NASA could not be bothered. She indicated that it takes them several days to assemble the package (must be more than just a 4 page application form), and that I had had 6 months to request the application and file it. I said I'd just found out about it on Monday, which didn't interest her. She said they had been advertising heavily, implying I was some kind of ostrich if I had not seen their ads. I asked where they advertised, she said "radio, television, newspapers, magazines, everywhere". End of conversation. To date, I have not received an application packet in the mail. I ask, has ANYONE reading this message seen any ad in the last 7 months about this program? Where? By the way, I asked about physical requirements, since I understand they are pretty strict (nobody with a weak heart is likely to survive the acceleration, for example). Seems my asthma would not be a problem, and you can even need glasses if your vision is 20/100 or better, provided it can be corrected to 20/20. (My father in law could have been a Navy pilot 30 years ago, had he not needed his glasses.) Mark
rjnoe@ihlts.UUCP (Roger Noe) (12/23/83)
Yes, Mark, I saw a notice in AW&ST about 7 or more months ago. Not to worry--
there is some reason to believe that NASA will be recruiting again next year.
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Roger Noe UUCP: ihnp4!ihlts!rjnoe
ARPA: ihnp4!ihlts!rjnoe@berkeley