I want to work at NASA. What course or area should I take in university?

Question

I want to be a scientist, for example, who plans to build colony in another planet.
I am a senior in high school right now and I have problem on what I should study in university.

I am looking at this webpage of the school that I will go
http://www.mcgill.ca/faculties/
Could you help me what area (or program, faculty stuff) specifically I need to pursue in
on the website above?
thank you very much ;)

Answer 1

Well, if you want to terraform, as you suggested, you would want primarily engineering. However, it might also be useful to study physics and especially chemistry, as creating colony on another planet takes alot more than just making a building. I would also suggest that you do a summer internship at nasa, so you can get some experience in how they work. Terraforming is a long time away yet, however, and if you still want to work at NASA, i would suggest astrophysics, structural and electrical engineering.

Answer 2

You probably need a phd. Consider studying an area like physics, computer science, engineering, robotics. But right now there just isn't that much demand for people like that. The jobs are just few and far between. Get into a scientific area and if the opportunity comes where you can do this then go for it else you would have something to fall back on.

Answer 3

Well, you're definitely ambitious!!

First of all, you would probably need to get a degree in engineering. Probably some military background wouldn't hurt either, because NASA takes alot of it's people out of the military community. Any of the sciences would be helpful. But Structural Engineering would be a good way to go, especially if you intend to build something of that magnitude on another planet!

Best of luck to you.... hope your dreams come true!

Answer 4

It depends on what you want to do. Most of NASA's scientific and manufacturing is contracted out. So the you either get a PHD and work in the policy area or you get your degree and hope that you get a job with a NASA contractor.