astronomy or aranautics??

Question

my dream is to be an astraunaut and i am little confused of the major. is it astronomy or aranautics? offcorse my dream is to go to NASA.

Answer 1

Astronomy is more in the lines of a physics degree and probably wouldn't help too much. Aeronautical engineering might bne a good major. If you notice, most of the NASA team are ex military people with loads of hours in high performance aircraft. You miht want to take that into consideration also.

Answer 2

Pilots and commanders come out of the military...many are Air Force test pilots. Mission specialists come from a variety of scientific and engineering fields. The NASA website has extensive information on the subject of how to become an astronaut.

You might also consider getting involved in the emerging civilian space program...that being developed by the likes of Burt Rutan and Richard Branson (the folks that built Spaceship One). I'm guessing that aerospace engineering along with piloting skills would be a decent way to open that door.

Edit to add: Few astronomers ever go into space...I do not recommend that route.

Answer 3

That's great that you want to be an astronaut. You should read my blog AeroGo

http://www.xanga.com/AeroGo

which is specifically for folks interested in going into the aerospace field, engineering, etc.

There are some astronomer/astrophysicist astronauts, but actually NASA just generally requires a background/degrees in engineering, one of the natural sciences, math, or an M.D.

In other words, you can have any of a lot of different specialties and still qualify to be an astronaut. As far as aeronautics goes, the general term mostly used now is aerospace engineering. If you want to design spacecraft or airplanes that would be a good choice.

If you just want to be an astronaut, you could just as well be a physicist, an electrical engineer, or many other things. In any case, you should really ask yourself what you could be best at, where you could make the most valuable contribution, because then you'll do well at it.

Answer 4

If you want to be a space shuttle pilot, join the Air Force. If you want to be a space shuttle mission specialist, get a Ph.D. in astrophysics.