4 ms·

I'm 25, if I join the air force now, do I still have a shot at being an astronaut if I work my tail off?

by skizm 12y ago

InclinedPlane 12y ago
In the coming decades the cost of flying humans and cargo to orbit will drop by about a factor of 100, which will result in a rapidly burgeoning population of inhabitants and habitable structures in space. There have never been more than 13 people in orbit at any one time in history, within 2 decades, at the latest, that record will be shattered, and soon tens then hundreds then thousands of people will take trips to space each year and who knows how many people will permanently live and work on orbit. If you really want to go into space don't become an astronaut, figure out how to acquire the skills which will make you so indispensable that it would be easy to find a job on orbit. It's hard to say what those are today but I think a fair bet would be becoming an expert on systems unique to spacecraft. But, you know, realistically it could also be something like becoming a zero-g chef, learning how to cook in zero-g and make food that is uniquely appetizing given the constraints and given the changes to taste in that environment.
callahad 12y ago
John Glenn flew on STS-95 at age 77, so it's physiologically possible.
frankydp 12y ago
ISS is only projected until 2020, but will obviously go longer. I am not sure you will be competitive within 10 years. Flight hours alone may limit your true chances. It is also not uncommon to be certed to fly and still wait 3-5+ years.
- timthorn 12y ago
  The Russian position on the ISS starting open longer is not positive at this point.
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
Osmium 12y ago
Depends what you mean by 'astronaut.' One of the interesting things about the space shuttle is that it allowed large crews (up to 11, but typically 7) of which only 2 were absolutely necessary to fly it, so you could have relatively specialised people (e.g. scientists who were not also pilots) going up into space. Now, with the Soyuz capsule only having 3 seats, every seat counts again and we don't have that flexibility anymore. But the Dragon V2 seats 7, so maybe that's about to change :) and you wouldn't necessarily need to join the air force at all to get into space!
- mikeash 12y ago
  I wonder if the best bet at this point, if you're starting fresh, might be to join SpaceX directly rather than shooting for NASA. With all their talk of Mars, they must be planning to have their own astronauts at some point.
  - Osmium 12y ago
    As I understand it, it was actually a point of contention whether a NASA astronaut or a SpaceX astronaut would fly first. I think they decided on a NASA astronaut in the end, but it seems like SpaceX definitely has plans in that direction...
- Patrick_Devine 12y ago
  7 seats, along with a potentially much faster recycle time on the spacecraft. There were less than 200 shuttle flights and it ended up costing $1.5 billion per flight (with everything factored in), so the total number of people who get to fly into space on a Dragon V2 should be more than an order of magnitude more.
jccooper 12y ago
Astronaut pilots should be on their way out. The STS required them because it was a semi-airplane. All modern and future craft will be mostly- or fully-autonomous. Soyuz still requires some technical skill, though not actual flying, but unless you're Russian you aren't going to be a Soyuz commander anyway. But it seems the best bet to become a government astronaut is still to be a test pilot. The Navy actually seems to be a more popular source than the Air Force. Army or Marine aviation may also be good, as there are fewer of them and NASA seems to like to distribute picks among the services. You can also go get a PhD (or, even better, two) in something hard-research-y. Something with bio- in the title is probably good. They do still pick a few civilians. Even better is to have two PhDs and be a test pilot. That'll get their attention. If you have to pick one, military might still be best: NASA should probably be picking the best possible lab assistants, but old habits die hard and the astronaut office is rather invested in the test pilot idea. But they might shift a bit once they're all flying passenger on commercial transport. On the other hand, if they ever get Orion flying, they'll probably want to staff it with test pilots. I don't think anyone else would be crazy enough to get on the thing within the next two decades considering their "test program".

I'm 25, if I join the air force now, do I still have a shot at being an astronaut if I work my tail off?

by skizm 12y ago

I'm 25, if I join the air force now, do I still have a shot at being an astronaut if I work my tail off?

In the coming decades the cost of flying humans and cargo to orbit will drop by about a factor of 100, which will result in a rapidly burgeoning population of inhabitants and habitable structures in space. There have never been more than 13 people in orbit at any one time in history, within 2 decades, at the latest, that record will be shattered, and soon tens then hundreds then thousands of people will take trips to space each year and who knows how many people will permanently live and work on orbit. If you really want to go into space don't become an astronaut, figure out how to acquire the skills which will make you so indispensable that it would be easy to find a job on orbit. It's hard to say what those are today but I think a fair bet would be becoming an expert on systems unique to spacecraft. But, you know, realistically it could also be something like becoming a zero-g chef, learning how to cook in zero-g and make food that is uniquely appetizing given the constraints and given the changes to taste in that environment.

callahad 12y ago

John Glenn flew on STS-95 at age 77, so it's physiologically possible.

frankydp 12y ago

ISS is only projected until 2020, but will obviously go longer. I am not sure you will be competitive within 10 years. Flight hours alone may limit your true chances. It is also not uncommon to be certed to fly and still wait 3-5+ years.

timthorn 12y ago
The Russian position on the ISS starting open longer is not positive at this point.

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

Osmium 12y ago

Depends what you mean by 'astronaut.' One of the interesting things about the space shuttle is that it allowed large crews (up to 11, but typically 7) of which only 2 were absolutely necessary to fly it, so you could have relatively specialised people (e.g. scientists who were not also pilots) going up into space. Now, with the Soyuz capsule only having 3 seats, every seat counts again and we don't have that flexibility anymore. But the Dragon V2 seats 7, so maybe that's about to change :) and you wouldn't necessarily need to join the air force at all to get into space!

mikeash 12y ago
I wonder if the best bet at this point, if you're starting fresh, might be to join SpaceX directly rather than shooting for NASA. With all their talk of Mars, they must be planning to have their own astronauts at some point.
- Osmium 12y ago
  As I understand it, it was actually a point of contention whether a NASA astronaut or a SpaceX astronaut would fly first. I think they decided on a NASA astronaut in the end, but it seems like SpaceX definitely has plans in that direction...
Patrick_Devine 12y ago
7 seats, along with a potentially much faster recycle time on the spacecraft. There were less than 200 shuttle flights and it ended up costing $1.5 billion per flight (with everything factored in), so the total number of people who get to fly into space on a Dragon V2 should be more than an order of magnitude more.

jccooper 12y ago

Astronaut pilots should be on their way out. The STS required them because it was a semi-airplane. All modern and future craft will be mostly- or fully-autonomous. Soyuz still requires some technical skill, though not actual flying, but unless you're Russian you aren't going to be a Soyuz commander anyway. But it seems the best bet to become a government astronaut is still to be a test pilot. The Navy actually seems to be a more popular source than the Air Force. Army or Marine aviation may also be good, as there are fewer of them and NASA seems to like to distribute picks among the services. You can also go get a PhD (or, even better, two) in something hard-research-y. Something with bio- in the title is probably good. They do still pick a few civilians. Even better is to have two PhDs and be a test pilot. That'll get their attention. If you have to pick one, military might still be best: NASA should probably be picking the best possible lab assistants, but old habits die hard and the astronaut office is rather invested in the test pilot idea. But they might shift a bit once they're all flying passenger on commercial transport. On the other hand, if they ever get Orion flying, they'll probably want to staff it with test pilots. I don't think anyone else would be crazy enough to get on the thing within the next two decades considering their "test program".