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posted 09-23-2009 02:36 PM               

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Linenger was chosen on March 31, 1992 and made his first flight on September 9, 1994, a difference of two years, five months and nine days.

Alan Shepard was selected on April 2, 1959 and made his first flight on May 5, 1961, a difference of two years, one month, and three days.

Yuri Gagarin joined the cosmonaut corps on March 7, 1960 and flew on April 12, 1961, one year, one month and five days after his selection.

If you include payload specialists, the closest American astronaut might be Charlie Walker, who was chosen on July 1, 1983 and flew on August 30, 1984, a mere one year, one month and 29 days later.

But then beyond Gagarin there's Guy Laliberté, who as a spaceflight participant, was named on June 4, 2009 and will launch on September 30, 2009, or three months and 26 days from Cirque CEO to cosmonaut.

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posted 09-23-2009 04:22 PM            

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quote:

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Originally posted by Robert Pearlman:
If you include payload specialists, the closest American astronaut might be Charlie Walker, who was chosen on July 1, 1983 and flew on August 30, 1984, a mere one year, one month and 29 days later.

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If widened to international astronauts on US missions, I think Sultan Al-Saud had that beat significantly, with selection to flying in well under a year.

On a quick web search, according to Encarta:

In April 1985 Saud was selected by NASA and the Arab Satellite Communications Organization as a payload specialist aboard the space shuttle Discovery from June 17 to June 24, 1985.

I believe the April date actually refers to his arrival in the US to begin his (very brief) training, but his selection was only the month before as I understand it - much less time than usual before a flight.

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posted 09-23-2009 04:27 PM               

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Afghan "inter-cosmonaut" Abdul Ahad Mohmand was selected 13 February 1988 and flew 28th August 1988.

Although originally scheduled to fly in 1989, as the Soviets were withdrawing their troops from Afghanistan they obviously wanted to get it all over with early!

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posted 09-25-2009 03:35 AM            

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For NASA shuttle astronauts, Susan Still-Kilrain was selected on December 9, 1994 and made her first flight on April 4, 1997, a difference of two years, three months, and 26 days.

This may also be the shortest time for an orbital flight of NASA astronauts. Some others that needed less than 2,5 years between selection and launch to orbit: David Scott, Edward Lu, Carlos Noriega, Jerry Linenger, Steven Smith.