What does it take to be an astronaut?
In addition to being creative, psychologically and emotionally stable, with a strong sense of drive and intrinsic motivation, NASA says that they “cannot stress enough the importance of an applicant’s capacity for self-reflection”. It’s like they opened the manual which describes the key aspects of a modern education.
There are five key characteristics NASA uses as part of its selection process. While you read them, consider how many of them are identical to the key competencies and characteristics of the students we would like to emerge from our modern classrooms.
Source: http://www.mars-one.com/en/faq-en/21-faq-selection/251-do-i-qualify-to-apply
Put this together with the metacognition mentioned earlier, and you have a checklist for a successful twenty-first-century education. The only thing missing is the ability to think critically.
If I can get all of my students to satisfy the criteria on this list, NASA is going to have a glut of potential candidates in a few years!
Watch this space.
Ideas Out There 
China is making a move to put mineral explorers on the moon soon. This NASA list leaves out one super-important skill… The ability to speak Mandarin.
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