NASA new astronaut candidates are back after a week of roughing it in the wilds of Maine, and video highlights of their trip will air on NASA Television beginning at 2 p.m. EDT today.

The new astronaut class, the first astronauts to be selected as NASA embarks on a vision of exploration to return to the Moon and travel beyond, completed survival training at Brunswick Naval Air Station, Maine. With U.S. Navy instructors, the astronaut candidates spent four days learning wilderness survival skills.

Video of their adventures will air on the NASA TV Video File. For still images of their outdoors activities on the Internet, visit: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/behindthescenes/training/ascan2004/ndxpage1.html

Based at the Johnson Space Center, Houston, the new astronauts will continue their training and will visit all of NASA's centers to learn about their operations. The class includes three educator astronauts who were selected from thousands of teachers across the country. It also includes three military pilots, a Navy SEAL, an astrophysicist, two physicians, and an engineer. Also training with the 11-member astronaut candidate class are three Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronauts.

NASA Television is available in the continental U.S. on AMC-6, Transponder 9C, C-Band, located at 72 degrees west longitude. The frequency is 3880.0 MHz. Polarization is vertical, and audio is monaural at 6.80 MHz. In Alaska and Hawaii, NASA Television is available on AMC-7, Transponder 18C, C-Band, located at 137 degrees west longitude. Frequency is 4060.0 MHz. Polarization is vertical, and audio is monaural at 6.80 MHz.

NASA's new explorers, the first astronaut candidate class focused from the beginning on the Vision for Space Exploration to return to the Moon and journey beyond, include:

- Pilot Randolph J. Bresnik from Fort Knox, Ky. - Pilot James P. Dutton, a resident of Edwards, Calif. - Mission Specialist Robert S. Kimbrough, a League City, Texas, resident - Educator Mission Specialist Joe Acaba from Dunnellon, Fla. - Educator Mission Specialist Ricky Arnold, who resided in Bucharest, Romania - Mission Specialist Chris Cassidy, who lived in Norfolk, Va. - Mission Specialist Jose Hernandez, of Houston - Mission Specialist Tom Marshburn, a League City, Texas, resident - Educator Mission Specialist Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger, of Vancouver, Wash. - Mission Specialist Bobby Satcher, a resident of Oak Park, Ill. - Mission Specialist Shannon Walker, of Houston - JAXA Astronaut Satoshi Furukawa, a medical doctor from Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan - JAXA Astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, an engineer from Tokyo - JAXA Astronaut Naoko Yamazaki, an engineer born in Chiba Prefecture, Japan

For full biographies of the astronaut candidates on the Internet, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/vision/space/preparingtravel/ascan2004.html

For more information on the Japanese astronauts on the Internet, visit: http://iss.sfo.jaxa.jp/astro/profile_e.html

For more on NASA on the Internet, visit: http://www.nasa.gov

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