Outer space has been pretty cool lately: We've discovered gravitational waves, found conditions conducive to life on Mars, and successfully sent New Horizons on a nine-year journey to photograph Pluto. Pluto!
So it is perhaps no surprise that this year NASA received a record number of applicants for their 2017 astronaut class. However, NASA didn't just beat the old record — they obliterated it. Over 18,300 people applied for the gig; the previous record was 8,000 way back in 1978, Florida Today's space reporter James Dean said.
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The best homes of the yearFeature Featuring a grand turret entrance in New York and built-in glass elevator in Arizona
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Nordstrom family, investor to take retail chain privateSpeed Read The business will be acquired by members of the family and El Puerto de Liverpool, a Mexican real estate company
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Biden commutes most federal death sentencesSpeed Read The president downgraded the punishment of 37 of 40 prisoners on death row to life in prison without parole
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Top Russian general killed in Moscow blastSpeed Read A remote-triggered bomb killed Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, the head of Russia's Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Defense
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Why Assad fell so fastThe Explainer The newly liberated Syria is in an incredibly precarious position, but it's too soon to succumb to defeatist gloom
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NATO chief urges Europe to arm against RussiaSpeed Read Mark Rutte said Putin wants to 'wipe Ukraine off the map' and might come for other parts of Europe next
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New Syria government takes charge, urging 'stability'Speed Read The rebel forces that ousted Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad announced an interim government
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Romania's election rerunThe Explainer Shock result of presidential election has been annulled following allegations of Russian interference
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Russia's shadow war in EuropeTalking Point Steering clear of open conflict, Moscow is slowly ratcheting up the pressure on Nato rivals to see what it can get away with.
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South Korea roiled by short-lived martial lawSpeed Read President Yoon Suk Yeol's imposition of martial law was a 'clear violation of the constitution,' said the opposition parties who have moved to impeach him
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Syrian rebels seize Aleppo in surprise offensiveSpeed Read The rebels made gains against President Bashar al-Assad’s forces and reignited Syria's 13-year-old civil war
