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Space Exploration

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    $\begingroup$ How can the asker become a qualified astronaut candidate without worrying about the specific rules and regulations for doing that? If the rules say you must, I don't know, wear a green hat every Thursday, then the asker had better do that. $\endgroup$
    – David Richerby
    Commented Oct 11, 2018 at 18:13
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    $\begingroup$ @DavidRicherby You don't become an astronaut by checking off boxes on an application, you become an astronaut by being one of the best in the world at your given job. If he can do that, the rest may come. If he can't do that, the rest won't come regardless of how well he follows rules. $\endgroup$
    – Jamie Clinton
    Commented Oct 11, 2018 at 18:15
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    $\begingroup$ OK, I'll become the best in the world at brewing beer or something. Can I be an astronaut then? No. I agree that it's not a literal box-ticking exercise but you still need to be in the general area around where the boxes are. $\endgroup$
    – David Richerby
    Commented Oct 11, 2018 at 18:17
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    $\begingroup$ @DavidRicherby, you can be if a beer brewer is what the ISS crew needs. Very few in the astronaut corp set out their careers to be astronauts. They got there by being the best pilot/engineer/scientist/whatever in their field and then just happened to have the skills the space program needed at the time. If you are the world's foremost expert in a skill they need on the ISS, where you come from is secondary. $\endgroup$
    – Seth R
    Commented Oct 11, 2018 at 21:46
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    $\begingroup$ @DavidRicherby the boxes on the page will reconfigure themselves before our eyes, and new pages will appear! Rules change over time, and there will almost certainly be private companies who have or at least select/specify their own astronauts someday. Maybe this answer does not address specifically getting on to the ISS itself, but I think "go for it" is the proper mindset for someone graduating around 2020. $\endgroup$
    – uhoh
    Commented Oct 12, 2018 at 8:02