Mars astronaut requirements

Where would I find info on the sort of college degrees and skills the
people that are going to be sent to Mars (and the Moon) would need to
have? What should one major in in college if they want to be a
Mars/Moon astronaut?

On Tue, 9 Mar 2004, btrposter wrote:

Where would I find info on the sort of college degrees and skills the
people that are going to be sent to Mars (and the Moon) would need to
have? What should one major in in college if they want to be a
Mars/Moon astronaut?

Patience.

(btrposter) wrote in message om...
Where would I find info on the sort of college degrees and skills the
people that are going to be sent to Mars (and the Moon) would need to
have? What should one major in in college if they want to be a
Mars/Moon astronaut?

Certainly geology, perhaps biochemistry. Some engineering and
computers would probably be an advantage.

Many of the skills they are going to look for will probably be
exxtra-curricular, though. Based on the resumes I've heard relating
to astronauts a good plan might be:-

Learn to fly both helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft.
Become accredited in skydiving and scuba diving, the higher the level
the better.
Do some caving/potholing.
Keep in extremely good physical condition. Definitely don't take up
smoking.
Look good in front of a camera.

Also you will need to be about 3" shorter than me. :-)

James Moughan

The requirements are much stiffer than you might imagine. If you can
understand the instructions on the following site, though, you could be
a good candidate. Otherwise, zip it.

http://www.underview.com/2001/funbits/zerog.html

Mark 'Sporky' Stapleton
WaterMark Design, LLC
www.h2omarkdesign.com
Charlotte, NC

btrposter wrote:

Where would I find info on the sort of college degrees and skills the
people that are going to be sent to Mars (and the Moon) would need to
have? What should one major in in college if they want to be a
Mars/Moon astronaut?

William Elliot wrote:

On Tue, 9 Mar 2004, btrposter wrote:

Where would I find info on the sort of college degrees and skills the
people that are going to be sent to Mars (and the Moon) would need to
have? What should one major in in college if they want to be a
Mars/Moon astronaut?

Patience.

Speak Chinese?

btrposter wrote:

Where would I find info on the sort of college degrees and skills the
people that are going to be sent to Mars (and the Moon) would need to
have? What should one major in in college if they want to be a
Mars/Moon astronaut?


If you can wait until we have a signifigant presence on the Moon, the
usual kinds of astronomy and observational astrophysics will be done
there, at the wavelengths we can obsere down there, and those
wavelengths absorbed by Earth's atmomosphere. This will be espically
true of radioastronomy done on the Lunar farside....

However, geology still looks like your best bet, short and long term,
either world. But be willing to do either basic research, or applied
geology. (the latter meaning doing work that's a precursor to mining or
similar resource utilization)

And there will always be a need for medical doctors out there....

--

You know what to remove, to reply....

(btrposter) wrote in message om...
Where would I find info on the sort of college degrees and skills the
people that are going to be sent to Mars (and the Moon) would need to
have? What should one major in in college if they want to be a
Mars/Moon astronaut?

One probably will get more chances if he or she is part of the
military (this include being a NASA employee).

"
Work for NASA; of 45 astronauts selected between 1984 and 1988,
43 were military or NASA employees, and the remaining two were
a NASA consultant and Mae Jemison (the first black female astronaut).
If you apply from outside NASA and miss, but they offer you a job
at NASA, ***TAKE IT***; sometimes in the past this has meant "you
do look interesting but we want to know you a bit better first".
"

http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/facts/faq12.html

"btrposter" wrote in message
m...
Where would I find info on the sort of college degrees and skills the
people that are going to be sent to Mars (and the Moon) would need to
have? What should one major in in college if they want to be a
Mars/Moon astronaut?

http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/academy...s/wannabe.html

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/.../asseltrn.html

http://astronauts.nasa.gov/

http://www.nasajobs.nasa.gov/stud_opps/index.htm