Former Illinois football player Michael Hopkins knew his life goal when he was a junior in high school: to become an astronaut.

Eighteen years after graduating from Illinois with an aerospace engineering degree, Hopkins’ out-of-this-world dream became a reality. After reviewing more than 3,500 applications, NASA selected nine people for the 2009 astronaut candidate class, and the former Illini football standout made the cut.

“This was the moment that I had been working toward since high school, and it was hard to believe it had arrived,” said Hopkins in a NASA publication. “When (Hopkins’ supervisor) asked if I wanted to change jobs and move to Houston, I was flooded with emotions: overwhelmed, shocked, thrilled, excited, humbled and thankful.”

Hopkins was inspired by the early successes of the space-shuttle program and used Illinois as a steppingstone to his ultimate goal. The four-year letter winner (1988-91) played defensive back under John Mackovic and earned the Fighting Illini special teams player of the year award in 1989. His collegiate accomplishments translated into success off the field after he garnered nearly every academic award available.

Hopkins was a first-team Academic All-American, a three-time first-team Academic All-Big Ten selection, a George Huff Award winner, an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship winner and a recipient of the 1992 Big Ten Conference Medal of Honor, awarded to the student demonstrating proficiency in scholarship and academics at each conference institution. In 1989, he won the team's scholar-athlete award. In 1990, after his junior season, he received Illinois’ Bruce Capel Award, symbolic of the player who displays the greatest courage and determination.

After Illinois, Hopkins earned his postgraduate degree from Stanford, acquired his private pilot’s license, learned how to SCUBA dive and attended the Air Forces’ test pilot school as a flight test engineer. He currently is a lieutenant colonel in the Air Force and serves as special assistant to the vice chairman of the joint chiefs of staff at the Pentagon.

Hopkins is the fifth Illinois graduate to earn this prestigious honor, joining fellow notable Illinois alumni Scott Altman, Lee Archambault, Steve Nagel and Joe Tanner as NASA astronauts.