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Your Chance to be an Astronaut
codewarrior78411 writes "NASA posted a hiring notice for new astronauts Tuesday, on usajobs.com, seeking for the first time in almost 30 years men and women to fly aboard spacecraft other than the shuttle. The agency is seeking 10 to 15 new faces for three to six-month missions aboard the international space station." Requirements include 'Must be a U.S. citizen between 5-foot-2 and 6-foot-3 in height (to squeeze into Russia's three-passenger Soyuz capsule)' 'At least a bachelor's degree in engineering, a biological or physical science, or mathematics' 'three years of relevant professional experience' and most interestingly 'Vision correctable to 20/20. For the first time, the space agency will consider applicants who have undergone successful refractive eye surgery.'
Must be willing to wear a diaper on long drives?
Peter
I knew I should have taken a mathematics/computer science double major. *sigh*
OTOH, it could only be said marginally as to whether my vision is correctable to 20/20 or not, so I might've failed the vision test.
Anyway, $60K (which is probably what you would get with no astronaut experience) isn't much of a salary these days.
My blog
20/20 correctable?...
So they should.
If the astronauts experience sufficient G's to blow out their surgically corrected eyeballs then they're dead anyway.
Must be a U.S. citizen between 5-foot-2 and 6-foot-3 in height
As a 6'4" person (that's 0.384 rods for those of you not used to measuring in feet!), I think I am going to sue for height discrimination.
First I find out that government safety regulations in cars only apply to people 6'3" and under, and now this...
Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum sonatur.
I'm 5'11", a US citizen, have a degree in PC and web programming and another in web deisng (hey they need some IT staff up there, come on), my vision is perfect, and I'll show up to the tryouts in a diaper and carrying a knife. They'll have to hire me!
Google's Super Secret Search Algorithm: SELECT @search_results FROM internet WHERE @search_results = 'good'
If the missions are one-way, I think my boss would be an excellent candidate. I'll even fill out his application for him.
leave my job at Stargate Command for this!
Here's my chance to show up that smug Inanimate Carbon Rod.
Geeeeeeeks in spaaaaaaaaccceeeee.
That's our life, the big wheel of shit. - The Fat Man, Blue Tango Salvage
Since I was a young boy I had always wanted to be an Astronaut and/or Fighter Pilot but because of my inability to distinguish between some hues of colors (violets and shades of red to green) I was told by the Navy recruiters that I could not be a pilot and/or astronaut. I had 20/20 vision at the time (since deteriorated... I blame my computing career on that).
Anyways, it would be nice if NASA allowed Color Blind people to also fly and become astronauts.
I'm a bit curious about the vision requirement. While I understand the need for good vision, what is the need for 20/20? The real work of flying the craft is usually left up to computers, and I'm not sure of what tasks couldn't be performed with adequate vision. I suppose one could argue about the docking operations with the ISS...
Of course I may be coming at this from the wrong angle. Vision that isn't correctable to 20/20 is probably pretty bad to start.
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I haven't even gotten around to impregnating some beezies. And the rest of my family's doing OK on the money. I think I'll let someone else kill him(her)self
Please stop stalking me, bro.
"Pilot applicants must have at 1,000 hours at the controls of a fighter jet or in command of a larger jet aircraft. "
In Freespace 2? But... But...
The Salary kind of sucks for being strapped to a bomb....
Ad eundum quo nemo ante iit!
There goes my chance. Or does it count as a "physical science?"
It is by my will alone my thoughts acquire motion; it is by the juice of the coffee bean that the thoughts acquire speed
Well... I never thought I would say such a thing: Wish i was US citizen now! :(
:)
Doh! Born in the wrong country for this one. :-(
Swedish plasma phys. PhD student; MSc EE; knows maths, programming, electronics; finance interest; seeks opportunities
Great. I have this sneaky suspicion that this cattle call will end up as network reality show contest.
To further challenge your morality, consider the prospect of selecting or requesting convicted criminals (in particular, death-row inmates). At what point does it start to seem wrong? Does their crime matter?
Misery loves company. Online misery loves unsuspecting random strangers.
Do you think they could overlook the "three years of relevant experience" requirement? I'm an excellent oral and written communicator!
\zg
Maybe because this is the real-world NASA and not a Ben Afflec movie?
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Computer Science (or at least a number of its subfields) may be classified as an applied science, especially as it applies to Information Science.Wouldn't you be more valuable on the ground, anyway?
Misery loves company. Online misery loves unsuspecting random strangers.
All the "space rendezvous" videos and images have been faked by the same company that faked the moon landing. They are good with Blender and the GIMP. Damned good.
The truth is out there!
Rich And Stupid is not so bad as Working For Rich And Stupid.
http://jobsearch.usajobs.opm.gov/getjob.asp?JobID=62398554&AVSDM=2007-09-18+00%3A00%3A04&Logo=0&sort=rv&vw=d&brd=3876&ss=0&customapplicant=15513,15514,15515,15669,15523,15512,15516,45575&q=astronaut
Why not instead start hiring ironworkers and folks who actually know WTF they're doing in high-up construction techniques? They're still (according to accounts) building the ISS, right?
The typical new astronaut will wait 8-10 years for a first spaceflight, by which time the ISS construction should be complete.
I'm actually surprised NASA is hiring, since they now have one fewer shuttle since 2003 and thus more astronauts than missions. I didn't read TFA but they're probably manning up for Project Constellation. Of course, there's no guarantee that a new hire will ever fly, especially if the program gets cut back or cancelled (google for Manned Orbital Laboratory for another famous such program -- only half of the 14 astronauts hired for MOL were able to transfer to the shuttle program).
Some good advice I've heard for prospective astronauts is to go work for Burt Rutan or Richard Branson, and give NASA a pass.
Your mother is an astronaut.
Politics, Culture, Food?
It's not like their control computers ever seize up.
On a serious note, there isn't much that requires computer science skills up there. All the labs and simulators are on the ground.
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Did they forget some requirements?
Flammability?
Filthy astronauts, driving their moon-buggies through our neighborhoods at all hours of the night, playing that theme from "2001" real loud on their cosmo-blasters!
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Me be the first space pirate, dread pirate Everphilski. Arrrrgh.
I totally agree.
Computer By the way, Computer Scientists who are interested in getting involved with NASA should apply for an internship or co-op with the JPL.
Misery loves company. Online misery loves unsuspecting random strangers.
I can meet all the other goals outlined, but no way would I be willing to go the distance on the tilt-a-whirl (whirl and hurl?). I prefer my insides stay inside.
"It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education." -Albert Einstein
Finally I get to drive a moon buggy and pound Tang. It's going to suck when I'm no longer able to eat solid food but those are the breaks. I'm tired of people being racist against astronauts!
I thought the original question was "would you go even if we couldn't guarantee that we could get you back" with the situation being that you would be sent there to settle (which implies raising a family there) with base expectation that you would be there for years and with the understanding tht NASA may not be able to develop the technology for a return flight.
When put in this context it is similar to that of a pioneer going west to settle and grow communities.
If this were the case, then I'd go in a heartbeat,
myke
Mimetics Inc. Twitter
From the requirements:
* Must be able to leave mothers basement for longer than the cook time of a Hot Pocket(TM)
The typical new astronaut will wait 8-10 years for a first spaceflight
I'm actually surprised NASA is hiring, since they now have one fewer shuttle since 2003
Shuttles go out of commission in 2010. Most likely a good number of astronauts are up to leave the service due to age/desire and/or the delay between now and constellation...
Some good advice I've heard for prospective astronauts is to go work for Burt Rutan or Richard Branson, and give NASA a pass.
Rutan sold Scaled to Northrop Grumman. While he's still a senior manager, one must wonder for how long. Burt isn't exactly young anymore. And being an astronaut for SS2 is basically the equivalent of a glorified airline pilot / space waitress, for 10 minutes at a time. Not denigrating it but suborbital and orbital are two different ballparks. It'll be nice when someone like Armadillo or Masten actually makes orbit accessible.
Arrr!
Who wants to be a MILLIONA.... er... 60 thousand-doller-ionaire!
Good link. My degree was in computer engineering. What confuses people is when I tell them that I can't stand high-level programming. I was always more interested in the electrons than the bits.
Out of modpoints but really liked a post? 1BDkF6TtmmeZ3yqXbz9yhdYVqRYnwFoXDj
There's an idea with some potential.
Star Pirates
Get a PhD
Get your private pilots license
Get certified in Scuba
Run 10 miles a day, be in good physical shape
Make sure you are comfortable speaking in public, and are fairly good at it
Have diverse interests
Now you've met the real minimum requirements...go have fun!
FFWIW, I considered being an as-can, and know others who were attempting to get selected. Getting into the NBA is a bit easier than getting into to be an astronaut, statistically speaking.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
Given that you can freely rotate in zero-gravity, this would require that a room have no diagonal length of at least 190.5 cm. Are space station rooms really that small?
Misery loves company. Online misery loves unsuspecting random strangers.
..I regret to inform you that our manned expedition to the Red Planet Mars has encountered a slight difficulty.."
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This sounds like a great premise for a reality show. With the sad state of affairs across the board (educationally and due to our nation's preoccupation with the "real lives" of everyone else), I'd be surprised if we didn't see "Who Wants to be an Astronaut" soon.
Think of the hookups and ensuing hilarity (or conflict) in that crowd of alpha geeks.
...oh wait. Is the space station between here and the kitchen or the bathroom?
Nevermind.
I'm really glad to see that teaching experience is being considered "real" job experience for once. Looking at all the minimum qualifications, with 7 years of K-12 teaching, I qualify. I'm going to apply. Who knows, I might get lucky. Wish me luck!
I wonder if the vision thing is a quiet rejection of anyone over 40?
Requirements include 'Must be a U.S. citizen between 5-foot-2 and 6-foot-3 in height (to squeeze into Russia's three-passenger Soyuz capsule)' 'At least a bachelor's degree in engineering, a biological or physical science, or mathematics' 'three years of relevant professional experience' and most interestingly 'Vision correctable to 20/20.
Hey, I'm a U.S. citizen! Maybe they'll waive all the other requirements for me.
Does weighing >300 pounds make me ineligible?
On a radio show called "This American Life", the host Ira Glass interviewed a couple of Astronauts which revealed that most astronauts haven't been in space, and many aren't even scheduled for a flight. So if you enjoy meetings and lots of paperwork, sign up. Yes it gives you a chance to get into space (better than us normal ground-dwellers), but frankly, this isn't the dream that most want it to be.
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Computer Science (or at least a number of its subfields) may be classified as an applied science, especially as it applies to Information Science.Wouldn't you be more valuable on the ground, anyway? You're absolutely right. I should definitely leave space exploration up to the Soil Scientists and Oceanographers.
It is by my will alone my thoughts acquire motion; it is by the juice of the coffee bean that the thoughts acquire speed
daaamn j00 father!!!!#@#!
You seriously should, if returning Mars samples or exploring water flow on Mars are on your priority list.
Space exploration is probably the greatest interdisciplinary field that we can pursue. Nearly every field will be essential to some part of it.
Misery loves company. Online misery loves unsuspecting random strangers.
"Must be a U.S. citizen" Damn it! They are discriminating against ILLEGAL ALIENS! Whoops...I meant undocumented workers...
The number one way to get the ladies is "Hello, I'm independently wealthy." but slightly below that is "Hello, I'm an astronaut."
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Seriously, who's going to clean out the spyware on the ship's onboard web terminals? Or make sure the ship's Xbox 360's are updated correctly?
Come on, throw me a bone here.
It is by my will alone my thoughts acquire motion; it is by the juice of the coffee bean that the thoughts acquire speed
Why is it 20/20? Does NASA really require every astronaut to be capable of landing the shuttle in an emergency? I just don't see why, if I'm the robotics engineer on board, I would need perfect vision to complete my tasks.
;) etc. But what's the maximum line of sight on the space station, like 25 feet? If someone can see well enough I don't understand why perfect vision is required. Hell why not make the requirement correctable to 20/10 while we're at it, hyper vision only candidates. And a space pony.
Granted, you don't want people who can't function at all without glasses in case of emergency, glasses are broken/lost in space
And also, my mother has undergone corrective laser eye surgery, so I know that it pretty much ruins one's night vision. Um, isn't space *really* dark? So it's ok if you can't see worth a damn in the dark/near dark, but not ok if you can read an instrument panel at 40 feet but not 50?
-- I'm not a pessimist, I'm a realist. It's not my fault that life sucks so much. --
"20/20. For the first time, the space agency will consider applicants who have undergone successful refractive eye surgery."
I wonder does it matter what type of corrective eye surgery you have had, I only ask because I remembered this article.
Being an astronaut isn't all that great. There are few flights, and you spend years waiting to be assigned to one. Meanwhile, NASA sticks you in make-work jobs, like "Lunch with an Astronaut. You spend a big chunk of your life on hold. That's the basic frustration of the job.
The most successful astronauts are ones who work the system effectively to get good assignments during their downtime. One of the current astronauts spent a tour as an Undersecretary of State. It's a great career move for military types. Most astronauts are pilots; even those who aren't "pilot-astronauts" tend to be flyers. NASA encourages its astronauts to fly (the Original Seven lobbied for this), and has aircraft for astronauts to use. The astronaut corps is a pilot's club.
NASA has 92 active astronauts right now. But they're getting older, and NASA needs some younger people.
Seems to me that you would be travelling entirely in Russian equipment. Mind you, that's much safer than American kit.
Perhaps you ought to be a practicising member of the Communist Party?
Actually, once we establish a permanent base on the Moon or Mars, there may be more scope for Computer Science: look at the theoretical work already done on "Interplanetary IP". Communications between a medium or long-term colony on Mars and Earth would be a priority, and there may be some scope for developing and testing improved network and communications technologies.
Of course most of this is going to fall under Electrical Engineering as the physical layer is more important than the logical layers, so you're probably still not going to get to go into space.
CS falls somewhere in between engineering and pure mathematics. If they are taking engineers and mathematicians, I see no reason why CS wouldn't also work.
Take note that you need 1,000 hours flight time in a jet air craft. Good luck with that if you weren't in the military or fly commercially.
And no potato chips, please. They're ruffled.
Yeah they need someone who can code up a reel 133t webpage in a crisis!!! CS degree - what a waste of fuckin time!!!
Yes I am an engineer!!!
This is begging for a reality TV show.
"Who wants to be an Astronaut?" or "American Astronaut"
A million geeks in line half of which wearing diapers, carrying knives, mace, and rubber hose. Comedy ensues.
Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
I've checked the requirements a few years back and IIRC the "vision correctable to 20/20" is already a requirement. That is, you don't have to have 20/20 vision and as I understand refractive eye surgery is not needed, eyeglasses will suffice.
And in fact, why not? If you want the best of the best, why would you want to settle for something less? Besides, a PhDs are a lot more common these days - hell, at any half decent tech place, most people tend to have at least their master's degrees.
Possibly because "high-up construction techniques" typically involve heights at which gravity is still a major factor and air supply isn't. If you're not careful when building out on the 50th floor, you'll fall to your death rather quickly. You don't typically need anything special to breathe, though.
Much of the building of the ISS takes place on the ground and the space shuttles just deploy the pieces. When the pieces are put together "high-up", the workers don't so much need to worry about falling as they need to worry about suit punctures, navigating in zero-G, drifting away from the site, etc. Stick an iron-worker in a suit in space and he won't know how to connect two pieces of the ISS together. He won't know to be careful of each screw lest it puncture his suit. He won't know half of the things that the astronauts know to stay safe and keep from getting himself killed.
My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
It is by my will alone my thoughts acquire motion; it is by the juice of the coffee bean that the thoughts acquire speed
Are you kidding me ?! Can't I just pay $20 million or something ...
A million monkeys and this is the best sig they could come up with...
A friend working as a test pilot in the military spoke about NASA recently. Said its best to wait for the private than take your chances with NASA. This coming from a guy who spent his whole life getting to where he is today, gambling away 10 years to maybe go up with a struggling agency is not attractive.
i do think this is a great thing soon we might be getting "off world" programming jobs instead of just off shore ;)
shame they didn't include a computing degree this time.
It does if you're doing it right. Schwing!
I get claustrophobic and anxious just thinking about being in a large tin can with no way out for months at a time. Y'all go ahead. I'll watch.
Who wants to be an Astronaut!
Nasa plans to retire the uber-complicated space shuttle and supply the space station via Russian Soyuz capsules. Under the Bush Administration foreign policy, our relations with Russia are not exactly improving. What happens, then, if there comes a day in 2012 or whenever when Russia just says "no, we are not going to fly any Americans to the space station." Then we can call the space station the Russian Space Station and maybe NASA doesn't need those new astronauts.
...welcome our new Homeresque man-off-the-street overlords! Finally a thread where this tired old meme is on topic...
Yes.
Just imagine being the Martian Virginia Dare. Someday centuries from now, bigots will idolize you and use your name.
I assume they're not looking for pilots, given the desire that people have engineering or other science degrees. But I don't actually know... do most NASA pilots have those degrees? I know that back in the days of "The Right Stuff" you more or less had to be a superman, but recent news items suggest they have relaxed their expectations.
[Ego]out
I wonder if a MS in Computer Science would work...that's pretty close to math/logic.
With the first link, the chain is forged.
Under Key Requirements: "Frequent travel may be required." I hope I'm not the only one who finds this amusing.
. . . they're Tinkle Togs! Like the astronauts wear! (Per Camp Lazlo.)
From the job description:
The open positions require extensive travel on Earth and in space. Possible destinations may include, but are not limited to, Texas, Florida, California, Russia, Kazakhstan, the International Space Station and the moon.
Coder's Stone: The programming language quick ref for iPad
We can usher in a new era of leg reduction surgery...
A decade or more of sitting through government meetings and government training camps, being paid a lousy salary, in order to maybe make a few space flights to the stinky international space station, where you can then run a few experiments?
Frankly, you're a lot better off making enough money in the private sector to buy your own flight into space.
The only reason the space shuttle keeps going is that it is quite remarkable that for it's expense, the money is for the parts is distributed over a vast number of constituencies, making it far more attractive than something cheaper that would appease fewer senators.
Remember folks, slashdot doesn't have a -1 "disagree" moderation!
Oceanographers presumably have a reasonable grasp of environments with 3 degrees of freedom, and low levels of apparent weight, and a harsh medium requiring special equipment for respiration and protection... ...or have I been reading too much Steven Baxter.
"... and more and more now there are all kinds of electronic goodies available" -- Pink Floyd 1972
And what exactly is making this "good advice"? NASA has actually sent people into low earth orbit. Something like 400 of them, at my last count. Neither Rutan nor Branson have ever done this, have ever even tried or have any kind of realistic plans in place of ever trying. Ever.
And no, "I have a lot of money thus I'll just go and do it" does not count as some kind of "plan".
Oh, and NASA has actually sent people beyond low earth orbit. And has realistic plans of doing it again. Which nobody else on the planet has done, and no private entity on the planet is even talking about ever trying even under the best possible future circumstances.
We're all born with nothing.
If you die in debt, you're ahead.
Depends on the university.
In some CS is taught out of engineering, others Arts&Science (usually split off math) still others the business school.
If I was going to major in CS I'd definitely avoid any University that taught CS out of business.
You say CS is halfway between Math and Engineering. As Engineering is a perfect blend of Science, Math, Art and Business that would make CS just math heavy Engineering. Not what I recall (we EEs took more math then the the CS students IIRC CS didn't even take DiffEq).
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
If you are a specialized tool maker don't expect much need to be out front, in an exploratory role.
Anything that can be done remotely will be done remotely. NASA has plenty of call for CS, just not in flight.
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
at 2.07 meters and 150 kg, I'll probably never get to outer space.
Grrrr. Maybe, if I could find a way to put up a XXXL-Prize...
Title the reality show "The Biggest Launcher"...
Ah, well, back to dreaming...
Take the 90-Day Challenge! http://rwmurker.bodybyvi.com/
I personally like best the extremes -- at low levels you have extremely precise control and a small domain of responsibility, and at the very highest level of programing (e.g. mathematical modeling) you have only incidental concern for machine optimization, unlimited structural possibilities and again a small domain of responsibility.
Its the mid-level and "glue" coding that sucks the most; that is where your manager wants the application to include everything and the kitchen sink, which in my experience leads to burn out.
Reporter: Uh, question for the barbecue chef: Don't you think there is an inherent danger in sending underqualified civilians into outer space?
Homer: I'll field this one. The only danger is if they send us to that terrible Planet of the Apes...
You can see what it might be like to be an astronaut on the first human mission to Mars with the Discovery Canada series Race to Mars http://www.racetomars.ca/ (TV + free 3D video games == good times)