how many college years does it take to be an astronaut?

Question

how many college years does it take to be an astronaut

Answer 1

ANSWER: According to retired astronaut Charles Bolden "Start with the basics and get them down first…you can't do anything without math and science." The preparation begins in elementary school. It is here that the foundations are laid down and then built upon. For more information on the astronaut candidate program visit the following website:


http://nasajobs.nasa.gov/astronauts

or

For more information on Careers visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/topnav/subjects/careers/index.html

Answer 2

It depends on what you do as an astronaut. There are pilots and mission specialists (which can include anything from an engineer to a biologist).

David Wolf is head of EVA (Extra-Vehicular Activities) at NASA, and holds a couple of records in spaceflight. He has a few degrees, but his first was from Purdue University in Aerospace Engineering, which is a four-year degree.

Pilots for shuttles are usually very experienced military pilots with thousands of hours in the cockpit and even more in simulators.

After college, which you usually want to have at least a Master's to have a hope of becoming an astronaut (That will take 6-7 years), you will have to compete to gain entry into astronaut school, and then actually go there. Even that doesn't guarantee you a seat on a rocket. Many in the astronaut corps have yet to fly and are awaiting their first chance.

However, it's definitely something to shoot for if you want it bad enough. Personally, I can live without going into space but not without being a part of the action. I have a degree in Aerospace Engineering and currently work on the Shuttle and Ares (return to the Moon) Programs. If you are lucky, someday I, or someone like me, may be working with you fixing a issue with a system as you prepare to go on to the Moon or even Mars.

Good Luck!

Answer 3

You will probably need more than a four-year college degree. Also having a degree in a technical or science related field would be useful. NASA also likes Air Force Pilots to pilot their shuttles and usually will only take the best and brightest. Good luck, but it will be an uphill battle.

Answer 4

There is no set requirement. Most astronauts have a PhD, or even several.

Answer 5

All you need is a 4yr degree in a hard science or engineering. You then apply to NASA and if accepted enter their training program and get on the 10yr wait list to go into space.

Answer 6

Being selected is not merely a matter of "college"education. With education you would need at least the graduate level, but the selection is based upon physical condition, mission purpose, experience, as well as education, etc.

Answer 7

12 years of regular college and then 4 years of NASA training until you go to space

Answer 8

I'm not sure, but I've heard that rocket science it only a four-year degree. =/

I'd look it up for the exact job you want--you know, what part of astronomics you'd want to take up. Good luck. =]

Answer 9

dude...just get 20 thousand dollars and then you can go. You don't need to be an astronaut anymore.

Check it out...this is fascinating...
Branson, head of the Virgin Atlantic airline, said Monday that passengers in groups of five could be sent into orbit by 2008 at around £110,000 ($200,000) a trip.

The businessman -- who also heads Virgin trains in the UK -- revealed his outer-space business venture, potentially worth £14 million ($25 million), during a press gathering at the Royal Aeronautical Society in Central London.

The licensing deal could be worth millions over the next 15 years depending on the number of spaceships built by Virgin.

Prices for each seat are expected to start at £110,000, including three days' flight training. Virgin says that up to 3,000 astronauts could be flying high in space over a five-year period.

The space trips would last between two and three hours -- though for the £110,000 there would be just four to five minutes of weightlessness.

CNN's Jim Boulden says, however, that the plan is not just "pie in the sky" -- Branson's companies plan to invest $100 million in the project.

The space flights would be the safest early space flights, Boulden says -- safer than the space shuttle though not as safe as flying in a Boeing 747.

Branson said the money raised in the early part of the business would be ploughed back to bring the cost of seats in space down.

He told the news conference: "We hope to create thousands of astronauts over the next few years and bring alive their dream of seeing the majestic beauty of our planet from above, the stars in all their glory and the amazing sensation of weightlessness.

"The development will also allow every country in the world to have their own astronauts rather than the privileged few."

He was flanked by aviation legend Burt Rutan, who developed the spaceship design, SpaceShipOne.

SpaceShipOne cracked the barrier to manned commercial space flight in June by flying 98,547 meters (328,491 feet) above Earth.

The height is just over 120 meters (400 feet) beyond the distance scientists widely consider to be the boundary of space. The entire flight lasted 90 minutes.

The voyage hit the headlines as the world's first privately manned space flight. The spaceship will take part in the Ansari X Prize flight competition later this week.

The competition was set up to encourage private entrepreneurs to build spaceships.

Branson's licensing deal is with Mojave Aerospace Ventures (MAV), owned by U.S. entrepreneur Paul Allen. Allen funded the SpaceShipOne project, designed by Rutan and built by Rutan's company Scaled Composites.

In a separate agreement, MAV is close to finalizing a deal with Rutan to use the technology to build spaceships to carry paying passengers on return journeys to the stars for two hours.

"Virgin Galactic will be run as a business, but a business with the sole purpose of making space travel more and more affordable," Branson said.

"Those privileged space pioneers who can afford to take our first flights will not only have the most awesome experience of their lives, but by stepping up to the plate first they will bring the dream of space travel for many millions closer to reality."

Branson plans to be aboard the inaugural flight and said the project could lead to further space-related projects.

"The orbital hotel will happen," he told reporters.