Dream to become astronaut took 15 tries

    Retired astronaut and Ashland, Nebraska, native Clayton Anderson knows how to take rejection. He faced it time and time again in his quest to become a U.S. astronaut.
    He first knew he wanted to become an astronaut at the age of 9. That’s when on Christmas Eve 1968, he and his family watched Apollo astronauts go behind the moon for the first time ever.     
    It took perseverance and determination to see his dream finally become a reality. After  14 rejection letters, he was finally selected into the astronaut training program.
    Speaking to an audience made up of S.C.O.R.E. camp students, their parents and local residents in Imperial, Nebraska, last week, Anderson stressed everyone needs to have a dream.
    Making those dreams come true takes perseverance, much like he displayed in his relentless attempts to get accepted into the astronaut training program.
    One doesn’t have to be a genius, like Albert Einstein, to achieve their dreams, he noted. Anderson said he was a good student but by no means a “genius.”
    He recalled starting his pursuit of a master’s degree in aerospace engineering at Iowa State.
    One of his first classes was advanced calculus with a young professor. Despite all his hard work, he got a D in the class. He retook it again, putting in the hard work he had before. This time, he got an A.
    “So have a dream, persevere. You don’t have to be a genius. And number four, be proud of who you are,” he said.
    “There’s no one in the state of Nebraska more proud than me of being from the state of Nebraska,” he added.
    Every chance he got, he showed that Husker spirit, showing off his red N that Coach Tom Osborne had given him to fly in space.
    Anderson went into space to the International Space Station twice. The first time, in 2007, he spent 152 days on the station. In 2010, he returned to the ISS on the space shuttle, spending 15 more days in space.

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