KSC-05pd-0572

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - At NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, the 2004 class of astronaut candidates gather for a class photo in front of the nose of Atlantis in the Orbiter Processing Facility bay 1. In the back row, from left to right, are Joseph Acaba, Randolph Bresnik, James Dutton, Shannon Walker, Richard Arnold II, Christopher Cassidy, Thomas Marshburn and Robert Satcher. In the front row, left to right, are Akahiko Hoshide, Satoshi Furukawa, Naoko Yamazaki, Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, Jose Hernandez and Robert Kimbrough. Atlantis is being processed for Return to Flight mission STS-121 in July. The astronaut candidates are at KSC to participate in firefighting training and familiarization tours. The class of 14 candidates includes three candidates from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency as well as three educator astronauts, who were school teachers chosen from thousands of applicants.