(a) The agency will publicly announce each space flight participant opportunity through appropriate means, including notice in the Federal Register and press releases. Each such Announcement of Opportunity will include a listing of basic qualification requirements to be met (including those of Sec. 1214.1704(b)), a statement of the specific National Aeronautics and Space Act purposes to which this opportunity is directed, what information is required of applicants to demonstrate their ability to fulfill those purposes, the criteria on which applicants will be judged, and administrative information such as to whom applications should be directed, the opening and closing dates for applications, and any other information or matters determined to be pertinent to the program in general and/or the specific flight.
(b) All applications received in response to the AO will be screened to eliminate those applicants not meeting the basic qualification requirements.
(c) Remaining applications will be forwarded to the outside review panel established for the announcement in question and composed of members appropriate to the specific purposes stated in that announcement. The review panel will evaluate all the applications and recommend to NASA a list of those applicants who appear most likely to meet the purposes.
(d) NASA selection of applicants qualified to undergo necessary training and be certified for flight will be made by the Committee, based upon criteria that include:
(1) Recommendation of the outside review panel.
(2) Ability to undergo successfully the necessary period of training to ensure adaptation to flight experience and mission activities.
(3) Ability to pass medical and psychological examinations to minimize the possibility of hazard to persons or missions.
(4) Adaptability to living and working in space.
(5) Willingness to enter into an agreement with NASA covering pre-flight, flight, and post-flight activities, with individual rights and responsibilities set forth in that agreeement.
(6) Satisfactory completion of a background investigation conducted to NASA's standards as adjudicated by the NASA Security Officer.
(e) The Committee will submit a list of those candidates suitable for selection to the NASA Administrator, who will select the requisite number to undergo the necessary training to prepare them for space flight.
(f) Those candidates who successfully complete the training will become qualified as space flight participants. Flight assignments will be made by the Administrator from this qualified group. NASA reserves the right to solicit additional space flight participant applications, if necessary.
(g) Authority to officially designate candidates for training, certify candidates as qualified space flight participants, and assign space flight participants to specific Space Shuttle flights is reserved to the Administrator.