HOW CAN I BECOME AN ASTRONAUT?
EDUCATION
To become an astronaut, you need to do well in math, physics, astronomy, and chemistry. Biology, medicine, geology, and engineering would also be helpful.

The "minimum degree requirement" for an astronaut is a bachelor's from an accredited university. Three years of related increasingly responsible professional experience must follow that degree.

Most astronauts are overachievers. Some astronauts, like Mae Jemison, have graduate degrees in both engineering and medicine, for example.

You should develop hobbies such as ham radio, model rocketry, and computers.

Stay in top physical shape. Astronaut Sally Ride was a top-ranked junior tennis player. Other astronauts have earned black belts in karate.

You should also develop a talent in a non-technical area, to be well-rounded. Ron McNair was an accomplished saxophonist, for example.

Fluency in a foreign language would help, particularly Russian. American astronauts Norm Thagard and Shannon Lucid each spent several months aboard the Russian Mir space station, working with Russian cosmonauts.

ASTRONAUT CLASSIFICATION
Some astronauts are pilots, while others are either mission specialists or payload specialists. Most, if not all, shuttle pilots have military experience. Many of the pilots have graduated from a military academy.

Mission specialists do not need aviation experience; but many, like Roberta Bondar, are pilots, anyway. Typical mission activities are growing crystals, performing biological tests, and taking pictures of stars. A mission specialists may perform several experiments in each of these areas during a flight. Thus he or she needs a diverse science background.

Payload specialist retrieve and deploy satellites. They may also perform experiments with the mission specialists.
APPLICATION
You may receive an application package by writing directly to NASA:
Astronaut Selection Office
Mail Code AHX
Johnson Space Center
Houston, TX 77058-3696

 Books and Videos about the Space Program
The Dish - Historical drama-comedy about the town of Parkes in New South Wales, Australia. A 1,000-ton radio observatory dish is built in Parkes to relay telemetry, voice, and television signals from the historic Apollo 11 moon landing in July 1969.
A Man on the Moon : The Voyages of the Apollo Astronauts
Apollo 13 - Astronaut's Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert, and Fred Haise make an heroic return to Earth after an internal explosion cripples their Apollo 13 service module. - Starring Tom Hanks. Directed by Ron Howard.

October Sky - Homer H. Hickam Jr. and his friends build and launch models rockets in a West Virginia coal mining town in response to the launch of Sputnik. Based on a true story.
The Rocket Men : Vostok and Voskhod, the First Soviet Space Flights - History of the Soviet space program.

 Smithsonian Air & Space Magazine
 
Also, please check the following web sites:

So You Want To Be An Astronaut
PBS: So You Want To Be ...



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Please send comments and questions to Tom Irvine at: tomirvine@aol.com

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