Chicago doctor joins astronaut corps

CHICAGO, May 6 (UPI) -- A Chicago physician who is the nephew of the former U.S. surgeon general has been chosen as one of 11 new astronaut training candidates, NASA said.

Dr. Robert L. Satcher, one of two doctors in the 2004 class of astronaut candidates, is an orthopedic surgeon at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and researcher at Northwestern University. Satcher, 38, is the nephew of former U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher, who was chosen by former President Bill Clinton.

He earned a medical degree from Harvard Medical School and has a doctorate in chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

His specialty is treating bone cancer and graft surgery to save limbs.

Satcher and his 10 classmates were chosen from some 2,000 applicants for astronaut training, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said. He will be eligible to go on a mission after completing one year of training.

Satcher and his wife have a new baby daughter.