Christopher Williams is still in disbelief that he’s going to be an astronaut.
“It’s still almost a little bit surreal, something that you’ve dreamed about your whole life and now getting the opportunity to do, I feel so lucky and honored to have the chance to do this and to be part of the team,” he told MyMCM.
NASA announced its latest astronauts on Dec. 6 with Williams and nine other candidates being selected from a field of more than 12,000 applicants, according to a press release from NASA. Since the original Mercury Seven space mission in 1959, there have only been 360 astronauts selected by NASA, including Williams’ cohort.
“Becoming an astronaut has been sort of a dream of mine ever since I was a little kid,” Williams said.