NASA test meant for astronauts recreated for general public

Exhaustive examination covers wide array of psychological, intellectual, and physical work-ups

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the United States created a test for Americans who wanted to apply for manned missions to space in 1958, and Popular Science has recreated the six-part test and released it on their website to the delight of modern-day space enthusiasts.

Consisting of a series of psychological, intellectual, and physical work-ups designed to test the ability of hopeful candidates, the test has been hailed by the American magazine as the most intense examination ever designed in modern history.



The space agency considered 508 applicants from the US military originally, according to Popular Science. In 1959, 31 of these were invited to the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in the state of Ohio to endure the intense battery of tests. Of these, only seven would go on to become astronauts for the Mercury mission.

The American magazine contends that the candidates were made to sit in extreme heat and cold, made to solve mathematical equations in 145-decibel rooms, and forced to spend hours in isolation chambers in order to prepare them for life in space.



Applicants were also required to take 12 intelligence tests, designed to predict how the men would manoeuvre spacecraft, if they could problem-solve during flights, and whether they grasped the concepts of science that would keep them aloft in alien territory.

An online tool which helps readers on the web create more engaging digital content has made the test accessible to a larger audience all over the globe.

The six stages of the test by NASA include spatial visualisation, mechanical comprehension, hidden figures, progressive matrices and analogies.

This article originally appeared in Popular Science