In the Star Trek original series episode "Tomorrow Is Yesterday", the U.S.S. Enterprise finds itself in the mid-20th century. At one point, Captain John Christopher, a USAF pilot, is transported out of his disintegrating jet fighter after he has made a firm (and troublesome) sighting of the Enterprise. Eventually, Christopher is returned to his timeline so as to allow him to father a son who would lead a future mission to Saturn. At one point, Christopher confides to Captain Kirk that he had applied to be an astronaut but had not been accepted. Then, remembering that he was on a starship, he noted that he had made it out into space "ahead of all of them."

At the time this episode first aired, only a very select few in America's — or the Soviet Union's — space program had been chosen to fly in space. The criteria for selection were ultra-high and led to use of the term "the Right Stuff" to denote the extra-special skills early astronauts possessed.

As spaceflight started to become a bit more routine, the selection criteria started to loosen. In the late 1970's NASA sought to broaden the diversity of its astronaut corps to include women and minorities. To get the message out, they enlisted an individual whom many thought embodied the future of what the astronaut corps would come to represent: Nichelle Nichols, who portrayed Lt. Uhura on the bridge of the Enterprise.

It worked. When the astronaut class of 1978 was announced it included three African-Americans and three women. One of the members of this class, Fred Gregory, now heads NASA's Office of Space Flight. "Nichelle Nichols had a significant influence on my decision to apply to NASA," Gregory told me. "I saw her on TV standing in front of a 747 in her neat blue astronaut suit. She pointed a finger at me and said something like, 'I want YOU to apply for the Space Shuttle program.' I did and look where it led me!"

Another African-American, Charles Boden, was chosen for the program two years later, and he is now a nominee (as of Thursday) to be Deputy Administrator of NASA. Starfleet is often lauded for its emphasis on diversity. Perhaps it had some impetus from these events at NASA. [Interested in applying yourself? Check out this link.]

Coincidentally, this initial diversity outreach effort came at a time when the first Space Shuttle orbiter began drop tests. Due to popular demand the ship was christened "Enterprise". Members of the original Star Trek series cast were even present as the ship was unveiled — complete with the show's theme. Footage of this "rollout" is part of the opening credits for the current series Enterprise. [See picture at bottom of this page. Photo above: Astronauts Joe H. Engle and Richard H. Truly are greeted by Rockwell technicians upon egress from Space Shuttle Orbiter 101 Enterprise following test flight on September 13, 1977. Both pictures courtesy NASA.]

In the intervening quarter century, the diversity of people flying into space has widened. We've even seen a senior citizen — John Glenn — fly on the Shuttle. However, with few exceptions everyone flying into space has been a government employee. A Japanese journalist and an English woman flew to Mir — but their expenses were paid by large corporate sponsorships.

Until recently, no one was able to personally buy a ticket to fly into space. Moreover, there were no health or training requirements in place for "non-professional astronauts". In 2001, American millionaire Dennis Tito bought a ride on a Soyuz taxi flight to the International Space Station. NASA was in a quandary: there were no rules in place to judge if Tito was fit—or qualified—to fly. After some tense weeks NASA relented and Tito climbed into his Soyuz capsule. His reaction to spaceflight was not unlike Captain Christopher's.

Now, another tourist is getting ready to fly — Mark Shuttleworth, a South African millionaire. By comparison, Shuttleworth's reception at NASA has been warm and cooperative. Why the change? It all has to do with a set of criteria that NASA and all of the partners on the International Space Station have been hammering out in the aftermath of Tito's flight. This document was formally released to the press yesterday.

The document (with the tedious name "Principles Regarding Processes and Criteria for Selection, Assignment, Training and Certification of ISS (Expedition and Visiting) Crewmembers") spells out the sort of training and medical standards individuals need to meet before being allowed to fly to the ISS. There is also reference to a formal "Crew Code of Conduct" (CCOC) that space travelers must adhere to.

We have yet to hear anyone citing CCOC regulations as reflexively as the members of Starfleet are prone to do when they cite Starfleet Regulations. However, it is probably just a matter of time as the number and diversity of people living and working in space expands and the range of experiences (and risk) expands as well.