Astronaut quits NASA training for the first time in five decades

Astronaut aspirant Robb Kulin has resigned from NASA after a year of training at Johnson Space Centre in Houston.

“His departure is effective Friday and that he was leaving for personal reasons that the space agency cannot discuss due to privacy laws” said NASA spokeswoman Brandi Dean.

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Among 18,300 applications NASA received, Kulin was among 12 astronauts chosen last summer.

Kulin, 34, was working as a senior manager at SpaceX when selected and said at the time he was hoping to fly on a vehicle he helped design.

SpaceX and Boeing are developing NASA’s first commercial crew satellites, due to launch within the next year.

Before being selected for the NASA astronaut program Kulin grew up in Anchorage, Alaska, and worked as a commercial fisherman in Alaska and an ice driller in Antarctica.

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The last time astronauts-in-training resigned from NASA was in 1968.