Skip to main content

First ice, then space

There wasn’t a specific childhood moment when Christina Hammock knew she wanted to become an astronaut. It was just always there.

“NC State is kind of where everything got started.”

The dream stayed with her into adulthood as she built a glittering research resume that included work at US science outposts at the South Pole, American Samoa and Greenland (in the photo above). But Hammock, an NC State physics and electrical engineering alumna, knew her chances of becoming an astronaut were slim. She was among more than 6,000 applicants seeking a handful of astronaut slots this year.

Then came the phone call.

“I started the speech I had prepared for the person giving me the bad news,” Hammock said. “Instead, they gave me good news. I was dumbfounded. I had no idea how to react to that news.”

In August, Hammock and seven other new astronaut candidates reported to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston to begin training, which includes learning how to fly a jet and how to speak Russian (to communicate with Russian cosmonauts). If everything goes well, Hammock could conduct research at the International Space Station or even join the first human mission to Mars.

“NC State prepared me really well,” Hammock said. “NC State is kind of where everything got started.”