146. Ohio, The Astronaut Machine

Astronauts are a rare thing, you know some people I bet. the chances are that an astronaut is not one of them. It’s nothing to be ashamed of, honest. However if you want to seek out an American astronaut there is one place which has produced more than its fair share of astronauts – Ohio.

The Wright Brothers, forefathers of Aviation were from Ohio, in case you don’t know they produced the world’s first plane. Afterwards was space, the first man in orbit was dangerously under qualified and called John. John Glenn if you want to be specific: he too was from Ohio.

Then came the Moon, the first man on the moon was Neil Armstrong, obviously. Not so obvious – Neil Armstrong is also from Ohio. That is no small coincidence. Then comes the flood. Including Neil Armstrong, 24 Astronauts have come solely from Ohio. when it comes to producing space farers it is in a world of its own. That is around 7% of all American astronauts to have ever travelled beyond their earthly bonds.

This fact is the source of some teasing of Ohio.Ohio is so terrible, people claim, that not only do Ohioans leave the state itself, they have to leave the whole planet! Whether there is any truth in that I know not. Still, 24 astronauts… there might be something to it.

Further Reading

• NASA – Ohio Astronauts