NASA astronaut applications soar

— -- Clearly, the dream is still alive.

Despite the fact that NASA retired the shuttle fleet in July and its next spacecraft for piloted missions won't be ready to launch until 2017, a near record 6,372 people submitted applications to NASA for a handful of openings in the Astronaut Office.

Nicole Cloutier-Lemasters, a spokeswoman for NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, said the tally is the second-highest number of applications ever received. More than 8,000 applied to become NASA astronauts in 1978 — the class selected to fly missions during the advent of shuttle operations.

From the most recent applicants, NASA will select nine to 15 to join the astronaut corps in 2013.

During the shuttle era, NASA selected new astronauts every two years. The agency typically received about 3,500 applications per class, and the competition always has been stiff. The number selected ranged between about one dozen and three dozen people.