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Going stir crazy during coronavirus isolation? Then train like an astronaut, mimic space

In this Wednesday, March 4, 2015 photo provided by NASA, astronaut Scott Kelly sits inside a Soyuz simulator at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center (GCTC) in Star City, Russia. Astronaut wannabe Rachel Zimmerman-Brachman, a public engagement specialist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, says that isolation is a lot like astronaut training. On Thursday, March 19, 2020, she wrote on Facebook, "Attitude is everything: I'm on an adventure in a confined space with a small crew for a long duration mission, with occasional space walks and resupply missions. Sounds like astronaut training to me." (Bill Ingalls/NASA via AP) In this Wednesday, March 4, 2015 photo provided by NASA, astronaut Scott Kelly sits inside a Soyuz simulator at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center (GCTC) in Star City, Russia. Astronaut wannabe Rachel Zimmerman-Brachman, a public engagement specialist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, says that isolation is a lot like astronaut training. On Thursday, March 19, 2020, she wrote on Facebook, "Attitude is everything: I'm on an adventure in a confined space with a small crew for a long duration mission, with occasional space walks and resupply missions. Sounds like astronaut training to me." (Bill Ingalls/NASA via AP)

By Associated Press March 21, 2020 2 min read

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) – Isolated at home? Then train like an astronaut.

That’s the inspirational advice from a public engagement specialist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

Astronaut wannabe Rachel Zimmerman-Brachman said Friday that isolation is a lot like astronaut training. So she came up with this positive message and launched it via Facebook on Thursday:

“Attitude is everything: I’m on an adventure in a confined space with a small crew for a long duration mission, with occasional space walks and resupply missions. Sounds like astronaut training to me.”

Zimmerman-Brachman, a longtime JPL employee with degrees in physics and space studies, said she’s wanted to be an astronaut since childhood. She’s applied four times through NASA and the Canadian Space Agency. (She has dual citizenship.)