Send us a textIn 1978, NASA changed the rules around who could be selected as an astronaut. Civilian engineers, doctors and scientists could be selected to fly on the then brand new space shuttle. Meredith Bagby joins us to talk about this group, whose social backgrounds were as diverse as their professions. For the first time, the group included women and people of colour. There were triumphs with astronauts like Sally Ride and Greg Bluford, and tragedy when four of this talented group were lost in the Challenger disaster.This is a compelling insight from Meredith, who had access to five astronauts from this historic class.Find Meredith Bagby's book The New Guys here You can request a topic for the show! Or even just say hi!We'd love to hear from you.Email [email protected] Cosmic Coffee Time on Twitter for some special contenttwitter.com/CosmicCoffTime

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

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