Astronaut candidates

[9GClub]

Anybody on here applied for the program? Is it as competitive as it seems like it would be? Does NASA prefer to tap from the Air Force or the Navy? Last I heard, the minimum qualifications included an advanced degree in the hard sciences/math/engineering and (for Shuttle pilots) 1000 hours of PIC tac-jet time.

 

[Fly_Chick]

http://www.usajobs.opm.gov/EI49.asp

QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS
The minimum requirements include a bachelor's degree in engineering, science, or mathematics from an accredited institution. However, an advanced degree is desirable. Additionally, all applicants must have substantial directly related experience and pilot astronauts must have at least 1,000 hours of experience in jet aircraft.

SELECTION CRITERIA
Following a thorough review of all applications, the Astronaut Selection Board (ASB) interviews a small number of highly-qualified applicants and evaluates based on the following criteria:

Experience and potential;
motivation;
ability to function as a member of a team;
communicative abilities;
adaptability; and,
other related factors.

 

[Huggyu2]

I'm not qualified, but I have known some Shuttle selectees over the years. Plus, a pilot I work with applied. If you're talking "pilot" positions, you better be a TPS graduate. Plus, as with any high vis gov't position, politics plays into it: was a pilot already selected from a certain congressional district or state? If so, that doesn't help your case, since another Congressman/Senator wants their boy put into the slot. Yes, advanced degrees are needed, as well as -- I kid you not -- 20/20 vision. I'm sure other our there have more direct experience than I, and might refute something, but this is what I know.

 

[skiddriver]

Two folks from my TPS class (out of about 15 US military officers) are current astronauts. I didn't apply for the program, but I watched as they went into it. They were both Academy grads (West Point and Annapolis), both TPS grads, and both had advanced degrees. They are mission specialists, since both were helo pilots. None of our fast-movers got picked up.

It is rare for a non-TPS grad military officer who isn't an MD to get selected, though I knew one USMC helo pilot who got picked up as a mission specialist based on his advanced degree in Agrarian Science (farm production), and who had never gone to TPS.

An undergrad degree from one of the Service Academies is absolutely not a requirement, though a goodly percentage of astronauts went there. You'll also see undergrad degrees from MIT and the other usual suspects.

We got the full tour of the Houston facility during one of our TPS class fieldtrips, and NASA arranged social time and sit down meetings with the senior astronauts. Their pitch was that the Test Pilot community was their "minor leagues" and they urged everyone in the class to apply for the program as soon as they completed their TPS payback tour.

A quick run through of the astronaut bios on-line at NASA will give you a good idea of the background that helped them meet their goals. If you aren't a military pilot, or can't get into TPS, you'll need to get a Doctorate in an appropriate subject. I don't know of any recent astronaut pilots who were not military pilots and TPS grads.

http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/

 

[CCDiscoB]

Is it as competitive as it seems like it would be?

I would say being selected to become a space shuttle pilot is, without question, the hardest flying position in the world to compete for. Never mind the education requirements, flying training selection, selection into fighters, and then Test Pilot School. Granted, not every shuttle pilot started as a fighter pilot, Ellen Collins, commander of the next mission, comes to mind. I know a TPS grad who was not selected and he is the sharpest, most upstanding individual I have ever met. Sharper than the guy who was selected, but that’s my opinion. Makes me wonder what on earth he’s doing fly fighters with the rest of us dogs.



A lot of luck required too. Imagine if you were a Rhodes Scholars/Advanced degree types who went to UPT in the early ‘90s, graduated #1 and got a heavy because there were no fighters. Saw it happen. I wonder why those guys are flying too. Shouldn’t they be writing Government policy, designing aircraft etc, etc. But I detract…..

 

[psysicx]

There was a C-17 pilot picked up.

 

[danish22]

I know a guy who was selected as a shuttle pilot on a recent board fairly well. Qualifications as prviously discussed. #1 Grad from the Air Force Academy, Advanced Degree in Aero and Astro, F-15's, TPS, F-22 Test Pilot, etc...,etc...,etc... Great guy and well deserved. Almost scary how smart the guy is...

 

[JimNtexas]

Rick Searfoss was a young Captain IP when I went through the F-111 course in mid 80s. He helped teach me to fly radio controlled models.

He was a great guy. He was an Air Force Academy "blue chip" and went on to be a Shuttle Commander.

I saw him on TV twice recently, once on Discovery where he was one of the X-Prize judges for Bert Rutan, and then I saw him on, of all things, "The Apprentice" where he was the instructor when the contestants flew a ZeroG 727.

 

[LJDRVR]

The Apollo program is sort of a hobby of mine, So I have a fair amount of space program reference material.

Skidriver is spot-on. A brief perusal of Who's Who in Space shows that only a few non-TPS Pilot Astronauts were ever selected, and only in the 63' group. (We're talking serious 50-pound brains here, guys like Buzz Aldrin (Fighter pilot/Phd astrophysicist) and Walter Cunningham (Fighter pilot/RAND scientist) Seeing a trend here?

There is no Navy or Air Force bias. If you take a look at NASA's website, you'll get a pretty good idea of who they're hiring. Some of the bio's are quite impressive.

 

[stadik_kling]

I have a hunch that it helps to have breasts. The Bio's of the women pilot-astronauts seem pretty unremarkable when compared to the men, at least where flying is concerned.