(Tribune News Service) — NASA’s astronauts corps swelled with a new class of graduates Tuesday, including one man who grew up watching space shuttles launch from his Volusia County schoolyard.

Luke Delaney, 44, born in Miami but raised in DeBary and attended both DeLand and Deltona High School in Volusia, was one of 10 NASA astronaut candidates along with two international candidates from the United Arab Emirates chosen as members of the 23rd astronaut group in December 2021 from among 12,000 applicants.

“At Enterprise Elementary where I went, we definitely came out for a few launches,” he said. “They can see it from the playground. … Just then you’re wondering how humans are going to space. How’s this even possible? And now I’m thinking, not a matter of how, not even a matter of when, but just where? Where will I go and what will I be able to do to help forward space exploration for humanity.”

Now more than two years later, he and the rest of his class received their official astronaut pins on stage at Johnson Space Center in Houston during a ceremony that included congratulations from one of the 12 men who walked on the moon, Apollo 17 astronaut Harrison Schmitt.

Schmitt was part of the fourth astronaut group chosen more than 60 years ago. As a geologist, he brought his expertise to the moon in 1972 on Apollo’s last mission as the only professional scientist in the program.

“The moon is calling us again for more reasons than in the past,” he said about the Artemis program. “There are many more opportunities today than there were in the ’60s and ’70s for activities in space. … Space science, lunar science in particular is certainly a very important part of the future.”

This is the first NASA astronaut class that NASA had required its astronaut candidates to have at least a master’s degree in a STEM-oriented field.

Delaney, who’s retired from the U.S. Marine Corps, holds a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of North Florida and a master’s degree in aerospace engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School.

While in service, Delaney flew combat missions in the Asia Pacific region and in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. He also flew as a test pilot to evaluate weapon testing systems and served as a test pilot instructor. He has more than 3,900 flight hours on 48 models of aircraft.

As he walked across the stage to get his astronaut pin, he shook hands with another Central Floridian astronaut who is now NASA’s chief of the Astronaut Office, Joe Acabá, who once taught science and math at Melbourne High School in Brevard County as well as Dunnellon Middle School in Marion County.

Central Florida’s most famous astronaut was John Young, who flew on two Gemini missions, was a moonwalker on Apollo 16 and commanded the first space shuttle mission.

He went to Princeton Elementary school in College Park and then what was Orlando High School, now known as Howard Middle School. Other astronauts with Central Florida ties include UCF grads Nicole Stott and Fernando Caldeiro.

Delaney credits a math teacher at DeLand High for sparking his interest in STEM.

“She just was super awesome in terms of how she presented material to make it so that it was easy for someone to grasp,” he said. “When you’re looking to learn math, I think in high school, the challenge is the tangible applications to it. And I just remember her turning me on to things like fractals and things that occur in nature and how the math applies.”

Other astronaut class graduates include Nichole Ayers, Marcos Berríos, Christina Birch, Deniz Burnham, Andre Douglas, Jack Hathaway, Anil Menon, Christopher Williams and Jessica Wittner. The two UAE graduates are Nora AlMatrooshi, the country’s first female astronaut, and Mohammad AlMulla.

Collectively, they are known as “The Flies,” a moniker chosen by the previous astronaut class, the group who graduated five years ago known as “The Turtles.”

“The Turtles got to know us a little bit and bestowed on us this ‘fly’ name,” said class lead Christina Birch. “Traditionally these names, you know they go back — every class has had one. They are usually things that … do not take well to flight, and so we were really surprised that they gave us a flying creature. It was quite a compliment. I think they had a lot of faith in us and hoped that we fly soon. So it was probably one of the nicer call signs a class could have.”

Since being chosen, the group has shared outdoor survival trips, learned how to operate and maintain the International Space Station, trained for spacewalks, developed complex robotics skills, flew missions in T-38 training jets and learned Russian.

At graduation, each astronaut took turns praising their classmates, and Delaney said AlMatrooshi thrived in the demanding environment.

“That’s where having a teammate like Nora is huge. Whether you’re riding out a hailstorm on top of mountain in Wyoming or flying a T-38 jet you can always count on Nora,” Delaney said. “She’s compassionate. She’s fearless. She’s always pushing boundaries and elevating the team. Nora. It’s been a blast training with you. I look forward to our next adventure off planet.”

Delaney’s astronaut classmate Burnham joked she had prepared a song to explain “how great you are. But rest easy, today I’m only going to talk about what makes you known as ‘Mr. Reliable.’ He puts 100% effort into everything he does and always with a positive attitude. He’s an awesome officemate and he’s an awesome teammate and a really great friend.”

Delaney later said he’s happy with his nickname.

“I think to always be there for the team and whatever we need. We support each other in all of our endeavors,” he said. “I think that’s really important as you’re moving forward into that kind of deep space exploration.”

The new astronauts join the NASA corps that is now approaching 50 active members who could be assigned to space missions to either the International Space Station or the moon missions in the Artemis program.

Recent astronaut graduates have had two or three years before any of them flew on their first spaceflight. Once chosen, there is typically 18-24 months of training.

Potential rides to space include SpaceX’s Crew Dragon, which just launched the Crew-8 mission from Kennedy Space Center on Sunday, and soon, if the crewed test flight slated this April goes well, Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Some will be assigned to fly to the ISS aboard Soyuz spacecraft launching from Kazakhstan.

But for some of this class, they could be moonbound with potential missions to Mars in the future aboard the Orion spacecraft.

“I don’t have a favorite. I think they’re all pretty awesome,” Delaney said. “Developmental test pilot is my background, so I certainly have an affinity for the new stuff coming down the line trying to make an impact for future astronauts and what that might look like on those missions.”

And while waiting for a launch assignment, there’s plenty to do, Delaney said.

“We’re already getting immersed in some of the Mission Control environments — work in real-time operations to help our astronauts on orbit interface with their families here while they’re doing their job up there,” he said. “We’ve got folks working on exploration projects already. So there’s suit development, there’s rover development, there’s general lunar operations. … There’s a slew of developmental projects going on, operational projects to get tied up with, and it’s just the activity. You’re going to have your hands on everything.”

The first astronaut class, known as the “Mercury Seven” was chosen in 1959. The latest class brings the total selected since then to 360 with applications open now for the next astronaut class.

In the early days, all astronauts were white men and military pilots. Now, the class is a mix of military and civilian, of men and women, of different races and religions, and with a wide range of expertise.

Delaney said that diversity helps ensure success as space exploration expands, and his astronaut group from the outset of training brought “new and fresh perspectives on problems and how to solve things.”

“I think that translates to the larger mission when you start going into deep space and you’re on your own and you really have to get together, come up with quick solutions to address any issues you might encounter,” Delaney said. “The diverse perspectives are huge, and the group, we’ve done a great job. I think as a swarm meeting all those challenges.”

©2024 Orlando Sentinel.

Visit orlandosentinel.com.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.