# Navy Seal,  MD and now astronaut

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/navy-seal-md-and-now-astronaut/846599>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [January 18, 2020, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/navy-seal-md-and-now-astronaut/846599 "2020-01-18T03:05:40Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\
**Post date:** [January 18, 2020, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/navy-seal-md-and-now-astronaut/846599/21 "2020-01-18T16:49:02Z")

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He’s also married with kids

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**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\
**Post date:** [January 18, 2020, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/navy-seal-md-and-now-astronaut/846599/22 "2020-01-18T17:18:53Z")

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> [@Bijou\_Drains](#):
>
> right now NASA has only 38 active astronauts. 18 others are listed but no longer go to space. There are some astronauts from other countries.
> 
> Since 1959 NASA has trained around 500 astronauts but not all have gone to space. A very exclusive club.

By comparison there are about ~2500 active duty navy seals. Not sure how many retired ones there are, I’d guess another 10-15k.

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**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\
**Post date:** [January 18, 2020, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/navy-seal-md-and-now-astronaut/846599/23 "2020-01-18T18:59:59Z")

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a few astronauts were trained but never made it to space. One example is Roger Chaffee who died in the Apollo 1 fire. A few others died before they flew a mission . Some others did not fly due to medical issues.

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**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\
**Post date:** [January 19, 2020, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/navy-seal-md-and-now-astronaut/846599/24 "2020-01-19T22:30:19Z")

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short interview with him

[Jonny Kim NASA Interview - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2T1Qcs4VKtk)

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