Timeline for How can I, a high school student in Bucharest, go on to become an ISS astronaut?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
12 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Oct 14, 2018 at 13:29 | comment | added | The_Sympathizer | And generalizing that question further, what sorts of jobs/careers/positions are in this "unaspirable" category? | |
| Oct 14, 2018 at 13:26 | comment | added | The_Sympathizer | @Seth R: So does that mean it's basically one of those things that "has to find you" instead of "you find it"? I.e. you should not try for it, but you have to get lucky by pursuing whatever other field you do want to try as far as you possibly can ? Since to get "foremost expertise" that means you have to be passionate about that field in and of itself - you'll never get to that if your whole idea all along is to use it as a prereq instead of it being innately interesting, and moreover, you can never predict what will be required for sure? | |
| Oct 12, 2018 at 16:50 | comment | added | Kevin | @JamieClinton "You don't become an astronaut by checking off boxes on an application," but you can't become one without checking enough off. | |
| Oct 12, 2018 at 15:55 | comment | added | xorsyst | If you can find it, watch bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/proginfo/2017/34/astronauts - this program was a reality TV show where they selected a person to put forward to astronaut training. It really gives a good insight into the sorts of things they look for. | |
| Oct 12, 2018 at 15:48 | comment | added | Cort Ammon | @DavidRicherby I think the answer makes a lot of sense, especially since the other answers point out that the requirements at the moment cannot be achieved by the OP because of their nationality. As Wayne Gretzky put it for hockey, "skate to where the puck will be." If/when any regulations change to permit the OP to apply to be an astronaut, these two career paths are historically wise decisions based on the careers of past astronauts. Plus, they don't put your eggs in one basket. If the regulations don't change, they're still fine career choices. | |
| Oct 12, 2018 at 8:02 | comment | added | uhoh | @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. | |
| Oct 11, 2018 at 21:46 | comment | added | Seth R | @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. | |
| Oct 11, 2018 at 18:17 | comment | added | David Richerby | 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. | |
| Oct 11, 2018 at 18:15 | comment | added | Jamie Clinton | @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. | |
| Oct 11, 2018 at 18:13 | comment | added | David Richerby | 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. | |
| Oct 11, 2018 at 17:40 | review | First posts | |||
| Oct 11, 2018 at 18:01 | |||||
| Oct 11, 2018 at 17:37 | history | answered | Jamie Clinton | CC BY-SA 4.0 |