by mmaunder on 11/15/11, 9:49 PM
"Since all crewmembers will be expected to fly aboard the Soyuz vehicle and perform Extravehicular Activities (space walks), applicants must meet the anthropometric requirements for both the Soyuz vehicle and the extravehicular activity mobility unit (space suit). Applicants brought in for interview will be evaluated to ensure they meet the anthropometric requirements."
...or you will be charged for two seats.
by coderdude on 11/15/11, 10:57 PM
>>SALARY RANGE: $64,724.00 to $141,715.00 / Per Year
Space Shuttle Endeavour cost about $1.7 billion, each Space Shuttle flight cost $450 million, $480.1 million has been awarded through the COTS program - and they would pay an astronaut $65k/year. I'm guessing they feel that the rare opportunity to be in space is enough pay for you. ;)
I'd still do it if I qualified for it.
PS: I wish people would stop with the lazy and "funny" comments. It's like wading through crap.
by numlocked on 11/15/11, 9:54 PM
It's incredible how relatively sparse the application itself is. No essays, no short answers, no letters of recommendation. No prose of any kind. Simply a resume, references, an academic transcript, and a small list of "additional skills". The astronaut website talks repeatedly about focusing on candidates with high levels of academic achievement, and I guess they aren't kidding. With this application, for better or worse, that's about all they have to go on in this screening round.
by artmageddon on 11/15/11, 10:00 PM
I'm surprised that they will accept a graduation degree in lieu of 1,000+ hours of pilot-in-command time in a jet aircraft. I'm a private pilot of single-engine propeller airplanes and getting my degree in CS is certainly no substitute!
I'm applying tonight.
by sv123 on 11/15/11, 10:09 PM
Does anybody know how competitive something like this is? Do they get thousands or tens of thousands of applicants? I want to set my expectations accordingly.
by gcv on 11/16/11, 2:01 AM
I wonder if a computer science degree counts as education in a branch of mathematics (which qualifies), or in "technology" (which does not).
by commieneko on 11/15/11, 10:28 PM
Doesn't pay as much as I would have thought.
(But the bennies are out of this world.)
by wavephorm on 11/16/11, 12:33 AM
It's probably easier to start a photo-sharing social media network, sell it to Facebook, and use the proceeds to buy a Virgin Galactic ticket, than to get this job.
by mkramlich on 11/15/11, 10:15 PM
I'm glad it didn't require 20 years of Java experience.
by shareme on 11/15/11, 11:02 PM
Can you hear me Major Tom..
by grandalf on 11/15/11, 10:20 PM
One of the few jobs I'm too tall for.
by ew on 11/15/11, 11:01 PM
Oh darn, I'm too tall. At least I've got a good excuse for cough not being an astronaut cough
by snorkel on 11/15/11, 10:06 PM
"Astronaut Candidates will be required to pass a swimming test during the first month of training."
Does the back float count?
by chris_gogreen on 11/15/11, 10:00 PM
"Frequent travel may be required" is not all that strange considering this is for an astronaut...