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NASA ISS Space

NASA is Looking for New Astronauts (nasa.gov) 54

Posted by EditorDavid from the final-frontiers dept.
"With a renewed interest in sending humans back to the Moon and then eventually to Mars, NASA needs all the able-bodied space explorers it can get..." writes BGR.

"The requirements are, well, pretty strict, but what else would you expect from a group that sends humans into space?"

Quoting NASA.gov: Since the 1960s, NASA has selected 350 people to train as astronaut candidates for its increasingly challenging missions to explore space. With 48 astronauts in the active astronaut corps, more will be needed to crew spacecraft bound for multiple destinations and propel exploration forward as part of Artemis missions and beyond...

The basic requirements to apply include United States citizenship and a master's degree in a STEM field, including engineering, biological science, physical science, computer science, or mathematics, from an accredited institution... Candidates also must have at least two years of related, progressively responsible professional experience, or at least 1,000 hours of pilot-in-command time in jet aircraft. Astronaut candidates must pass the NASA long-duration spaceflight physical... As part of the application process, applicants will, for the first time, be required to take an online assessment that will require up to two hours to complete...

After completing training, the new astronauts could launch on American rockets and spacecraft developed for NASA's Commercial Crew Program to live and work aboard the International Space Station, 250 miles above Earth, where they will take part in experiments that benefit life at home and prepare us for more distant exploration. They may also launch on NASA's powerful new Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft, docking the spacecraft at the Gateway in lunar orbit before taking a new human landing system to the Moon's surface. After returning humans to the Moon in 2024, NASA plans to establish sustainable lunar exploration by 2028. Gaining new experiences on and around the Moon will prepare NASA to send the first humans to Mars in the mid-2030s.

NASA expects to select the new class of astronaut candidates in mid-2021 to begin training as the next class of Artemis Generation astronauts.
"We're celebrating our 20th year of continuous presence aboard the International Space Station in low-Earth orbit this year..." NASA said in its statement.

Applications will be accepted from March 2nd through March 31st.
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NASA is Looking for New Astronauts More

NASA is Looking for New Astronauts

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  • Back in the late sixties as a little kid I wrote (well with the help of my parents) to NASA about becoming an astronaut. They actually replied to me, but boy did they break my heart when they told me that they only accepted US citizens. Even back then I couldn't see that happening.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Kjella ( 173770 )

      Back in the late sixties as a little kid I wrote (well with the help of my parents) to NASA about becoming an astronaut. They actually replied to me, but boy did they break my heart when they told me that they only accepted US citizens. Even back then I couldn't see that happening.

      If you got $100 million dollars lying around it's probably not too late yet, they got a Japanese billionaire lined up for the #dearMoon Starship project so once all the boxes are ticked for crewed Dragon I think it's open to most nations. The launch profile is around 3g for a minute, which is way below the 9g they cite for combat pilots and 5g for a normally fit adult. Also you'd be wearing a g-suit and since you're just a passenger passing out for a few seconds wouldn't be a big deal. All you have to do is

  • There is still plenty of time for all the manned projects to be cancelled.

  • Boeing Starliner (Score:4, Funny)

    by quenda ( 644621 ) on Sunday February 16, 2020 @06:41PM (#59734172)

    Makes sense.
    If they are going to be flying Boeing's Starliner, they'd best stock up and not find themselves short-staffed like in the Shuttle days.

    • Dark humor is the best humor.

      • Q: What is black lying in the bed and does not move after a room fire?
        A: A paralytic after a room fire.

        Q: What is black and is laying on the staircase and can not move?
        A: His brother, he tried to rescue him.

    • Yeah they certainly wouldn't want to find themselves Needing Another Seven Astronauts.

  • "Returning to the moon in 2024" (Score:3)

    by hambone142 ( 2551854 ) on Sunday February 16, 2020 @10:15PM (#59734526)

    Yeah, when pigs fly.

  • There is a reason there is not a 100 % reenlisting for them. Regards Pat O.

  • Let's get real... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by beheaderaswp ( 549877 ) * on Monday February 17, 2020 @03:47AM (#59734888)

    This anti-science/anti-education attitude in this country is finally laughable.

    Of course you need an advanced degree to go into space. NASA needs to know what a prospective astronaut knows before they need to use it. This actually is rocket science.These people need to be competent.

    Sure... you might find 20 million people in the USA with the smarts needed to be an astronaut. After you weed out anyone with an advanced degree outside of STEM you are left with the autodidacts and people with relevant advanced degrees.

    Then you have to throw out the autodidacts. They are brilliant innovators that have contributed to the human condition in ways that cannot even be measured reliably. They are geniuses. But they aren't team players. They are as a demographic not physically fit. They can't sit in a classroom and learn anything. They don't join the military. They rarely play sports.

    After all...who wants to see Steve Wozniak shot into space? (At the same time building a computer from scratch, with commodity parts, and writing an operating system for it is a useless skill for an astronaut.)

    Then you have to throw out the people that do not meet the physical or psychological requirements. That's so they don't physically fall apart during launch or "freak out on the asteroid".

    So maybe there's 1000 people in the age range that want to be astronauts.

    NASA took about 18,000 applications: and have 38 astronauts in the program.

    Someone needs to do a little math. Oh wait... knowing math is "elitist".

    • After all...who wants to see Steve Wozniak shot into space?

      Me, me, me! Oh, you meant and have him come back....

  • Slashdotters apply! "Send me to Mars, I have almost a year's worth of MRE's pre-stored!"

  • I'm still waiting for NASA to want to study fat people in space. Until then I'll keep "training".

  • Pretty sure I remember reading about you must never have broken a bone before as space can lead to bone density losses which means potentially a re-break. So unfortunately I'm out as a bicycle disagreed with our arrangement one morning. But I applied before and seriously thought about being in space for a long duration, and if you really think about it, it kind of sucks to be in space after the novelty of things wears off
  • Wish I was young enough.

  • As long as we get more stories along the lines of "First left-handed, tri-gender Jewish, Inuit astronaut..."

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