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Birch's drastic change of direction comes after being selected
for the NASA Astronaut Class of 2021, which will see her embark
on a two-year training course for the Artemis missions in
Houston, Texas.
"I am super excited to be a 2021 Astronaut Candidate. It is a
little still surreal for me," Birch, a two-time Pan-American
champion, said in a statement from USA Cycling.
"It wasn't probably until I put on the blue flight suit for the
first time that it actually started to feel real."
Birch was on the long list for the Tokyo Olympics and submitted
her application while preparing at the Olympic Training Center
in Colorado Springs.
"I filled out my application online before we headed back to the
track for some really hard efforts with the team," she said.
"After the Olympic selection, I had a couple of interviews at
the Johnson Space Center in Houston. Each one just left me
feeling like this was a better fit for me and what I wanted to
be doing."
Birch, who has a bachelor's degree in mathematics, biochemistry
and molecular biophysics, was selected along with nine others
from 12,500 applicants.
"It's sort of a dream. You're holding your breath this whole
time throughout the application process, hoping that you're
going to make it," she added.
"I met so many incredible people during the interview process.
Everyone is incredibly qualified. So, it really just feels like
I won the lottery."
Birch said the intense physical demands of her years of cycling
training will stand her in good stead for a journey she hopes
will end on the International Space Station.
"I think having a lot of comfort and familiarity going into
unknown difficult processes, and still bringing 100% even when
you're tired, those are lessons I learned as a cyclist that are
going to serve me really well as a candidate," she said.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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