Do You Have the Right Stuff To Be an Astronaut? 229
Hugh Pickens writes "Do you have what it takes to become an astronaut? NASA, the world's leader in space and aeronautics, is now hiring outstanding scientists, engineers, and other talented professionals until January 27, 2012 for full time, permanent employment to carry forward the great discovery process that its mission demands. 'Creativity. Ambition. Teamwork. A sense of daring. And a probing mind.' To qualify, you'll need at least a bachelor's degree in science, engineering or mathematics. Certain degrees are immediate disqualifiers, including nursing, social sciences, aviation, exercise physiology, technology, and some psychology degrees, too. The job listing mandates '1,000 hours pilot-in-command time in jet aircraft' unless you have three years of 'related, progressively responsible, professional experience' like being an astronaut somewhere else maybe? 'Since astronauts will be expected to fly on Russia's Soyuz spacecraft, they must fit Russia's physical requirements for cosmonauts. That means no one under 5 foot 2 inches or over 6 foot 3 inches.' Applicants brought in for interviews will be measured to make sure they meet the job application's 'anthropometric requirements.' You'll need to pass a drug test, a comprehensive background check, a swimming test, and have 20/20 vision in each eye and it almost goes without saying that candidates will need to be in 'incredible shape.' Applicants must pass NASA's long-duration space flight physical, which evaluates individuals based on 'physical, physiological, psychological, and social' stressors, like one's ability to work in small, confined spaces for hours on end. And of course...'Frequent travel may be required.'"
GATTACA (Score:5, Interesting)
Really? (Score:5, Interesting)
All that, and they still allow you in if you believe in god.
Re:i would *like* to be an astronaut... (Score:4, Interesting)
I hold a PADI rescue diver certification and have made several dives to 95+ feet. I have never used trimix. 5 ATM is 4 ATM of water pressure and 1 ATM of air. You add 1 ATM for every 33 feet so 4 ATM of water is 132 feet - the limit for recreational diving. If you want to go deeper or you want to stay down there for more than a few minutes you have to get in to technical diving and then you can learn to use trimix. Anyone with an advanced certification and a deep specialty can get to 5 ATM of pressure.
Also, 1 ATM is 14.7 PSI. So 5 ATM is 73.5 PSI. Still enough to crush you and to keep you from breathing through an unpressurized hose, but not hundreds of pounds per square inch.
Re:Kerbal Space Program (Score:3, Interesting)
Exactly right. Mod parent up.
Most of NASA's astronauts are resigning because the one and only thing they are going to be doing the rest of this decade is flying to the ISS and spin around in LEO for extended periods. They will mostly be playing janitor and physiology lab rat assuming they can even get one of the precious few available slots.
SpaceX is a lot more interesting place to be an astronaut now. They will be working on Dragon, new launchers and aiming for Mars, instead of being a paying passenger in a Russian space craft and going where so many have gone before.
Re:i would *like* to be an astronaut... (Score:4, Interesting)
Space Academy survivor here - It pulls 3 Gs.
I'm pretty far off to one end of the nerd-jock spectrum. I had no problems breathing, but it was interesting being barely able to lift my own arms: I couldn't lift them directly from my sides and had to increase leverage by bending them at the elbow and then pushing like a bench press.
While I don't think they need top-notch athletes, I can definitely say that physical fitness in the top few percentiles is a reasonable requirement for the job. There's no way I could reach up to punch an abort button in less than a second if it was necessary during launch.