Capt. Mark B. Lyles, 1978 and 1982 Murray State alumnus, Navy dentist and scientist with 25 years of military experience, was recently selected by the Navy as a finalist in NASA’s search for a new astronaut. If chosen, Lyles will be the first dentist-astronaut in NASA history.

A Paducah native, Lyles graduated from Reidland High School in 1976. He has always been interested in the space program, and rockets fascinated Lyles as a child. A distinguished scholar, he has earned over 705 college credit hours from four schools. At MSU he received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemistry. He received degrees from Naval War College in R.I., the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio , and the University of Louisville , where he earned his doctorate of dental medicine.

With his extensive education and knowledge of the Russian language, Lyles believes NASA is considering him as its next astronaut based on his extensive research on the health effects of dust on the human body. As reported in The Paducah Sun , Lyles said, “NASA has actually identified that dust on the moon is incredibly fine and mineralized and it did cause problems for some astronauts that went to the moon.”

Lyles is scheduled to be interviewed by NASA in October. A final notification of his selection status is planned for February 2009. If selected, he would report to Houston in late August 2009 to begin training.