RubberDuckKeychains

Thank you for doing this AMA!

I follow NASA's Twitter account and have seen quite a bit about becoming an astronaut in the past months. My main question is whether this promotion is to try to inspire younger kids and students, or are y'all mostly actively hiring right now?
As a sophomore in college in the STEM field, I'm incredibly motivated by the thought of one day working for NASA, both in my academics and physical fitness. But knowing that is so far off, I'm just curious whether I'm even your target audience.

Shannon, do you feel that you had to work harder than men in your same job to achieve what you have? I'm a woman in the STEM field and I'm just curious on your take on the whole gender difference issue.

On another note, when did you know you wanted to be an astronaut?