Since reporting to the Johnson Space Center in mid August to
begin training, NASA's nine new astronaut candidates and five international
trainees from Canada and Japan have been referred to collectively as either the
2009 class of astronaut candidates ("ascans") or NASA's 20th group of
trainees.
As of earlier this month though, the 14 can be called the
"Chumps."
"We learned about the class name at a party hosted in
our honor by the class of 2004 on Saturday, October 3," explained "Chump"
Mark Vande Hei in an e-mail to collectSPACE.com while
he and his classmates were away in Florida for water survival training.
Following a tradition that dates back a couple of decades,
the incoming astronauts were nicknamed by the previous class, in this case
Group 19 or the "Peacocks."
This time however, the 2009 ascans
thought they could steer the selection by decorating their office and generally
campaigning for their self-chosen name, the "Chimps."
"[2004 astronaut] Shane Kimbrough first talked about
how the Peacocks had come up with many naming ideas for our class, but
commended us for doing such a great job lobbying to be called the 'Chimps.'
Instead they flipped over a placard that said 'Chumps.' It was hilarious!"
wrote Vande Hei.
In addition to Vande Hei, the
Chumps are Serena Aunon, Jeannette Epps, Jack Fischer, Michael Hopkins,
Kjell Lindgren, Kate Rubins, Scott Tingle, Reid Wiseman; from Canada: Jeremy
Hansen and David Saint-Jacques; and Norishige Kanai, Takuya Onishi and Kimiya
Yui of Japan.
What's in a (disparaging) name
According to Vande Hei, the 2004 Peacocks provided no
further explanation behind the name, other than its close spelling to
"chimps."
Since 1990, the astronaut corps have adopted a custom of
choosing uncomplimentary nicknames, beginning with the "Hairballs."
but dating back to the 1984 "Maggots," which was said to be inspired
by the Marines' boot camp term for new trainees.
Earlier nicknames, dating back to 1959, were commonly in
reference to the class size. The "New Nine" followed the
"Original Seven." Later came the "Original 19" and the
"XS 11" (Excess Eleven).
The first group of ascans chosen in 1978 to fly the space
shuttle were known simply as the "TFNG" - "Thirty-Five New Guys."
The Hairballs emerged from another tradition, designing a
class patch. NASA's 13th group of candidates, the 1990 class included an
"unlucky" black cat on their emblem.
"Someone mentioned that [the patch] reminded them of
hairballs and we began to call ourselves that. Since then, every astronaut
class has consistently had some kind of disparaging nickname," said
Hairball Rick Searfoss in a 2001 interview.
The first class to have their name handed to them were the 24
members of the 1992 "Hogs."
"Since our class was one of the largest astronaut
classes [up to then] selected, the more senior astronauts thought it meant that
we would be hogging much of the T-38 flying time, simulator training, and,
eventually, space shuttle seats," wrote astronaut Jerry Linenger in his
1999 book "Off the Planet."
"At first, I was rather displeased at being called a
hog," continued Linenger. "But I figured that we were let off easy
after learning that astronaut candidates before us were referred to as
'Hairballs' and 'Maggots.'"
The largest class to date was the group of 44 candidates
chosen in 1996.
"The Sardines... there were so many of us," Mike
Fincke recounted to collectSPACE.com.
"It is always interesting to see how [the nicknames]
work out. There were classes named after pigs, there were classes that called
themselves the 'Escargot,' instead of slugs. Dodos became 'Penguins,' and I
guess chimps become 'Chumps,'" described Fincke. "It is all meant in
the absolute best camaraderie."
Bugging out and monkeying around
Though the nicknames are almost entirely for internal use by
the astronauts themselves, they sometimes slip into the public forum. Sometimes
that happens in space...
Continue reading at
collectSPACE.com and see a rare photo of the 2000 class, the
"Bugz."
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