And while you didn't exactly have to be a rocket scientist to join the original space missions (the U.S. Mercury and Apollo programs recruited many test pilots), if you want to stand a chance against other heavily-qualified applicants, it's certainly an advantage.

CNN: Middle aged spacemen needed for moonshot

EU, and even made the original bid to join.

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The company recently rehired Bill Johnston, who spearheaded the original Autodesk team, then left to join Dell.

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When he stepped down, Mr Koizumi urged this group not to join any party faction, and about half of the original 80-odd have complied.

ECONOMIST: Japan