US citizens with technical degrees and extensive flight hours now have a reason to rejoice (if for some reason you felt they didn’t before) with a job offer from NASA which trumps any dream job you could possibly think of. Forget winning that diving instructor’s job in Malaysia, or the medicinal marijuana research jobs which pay $3000 a month (to get high), this one is going to blow your mind.
The current upswing of US spacecraft production has created a new opportunity for the qualified traveler who is growing tired of our pale blue dot. I’m talking deep-space missions, lunar training programs and residence at the ISS. This is not a prank!
NASA announced the job availability on 4 November 2015 and claim they have already hired hundreds of potential astronauts, and are looking to hire quite a few more.
Unfortunately (and I’m sure for good reason) they aren’t hiring just anyone. For starters it seems that you need to be a US citizen to start with. They are very proud of the fact that the launches, builds and missions are all being undertaken and planned on and from US soil. The crafts are all proudly US design and their job application article makes mention of the word ‘America’ no less than five times. But that’s not the only qualification you need.
A bachelor’s degree or higher in “engineering, biological science, physical science or mathematics” is a prerequisite that a lot of people can meet, but you will also need at least 1000 hours of flight time beneath your belt before you qualify.
NASA has announced this as a first step in the direction of developing human-carrying spacecraft and sustainable off-world living, and hopes that this project will go a long way in finally putting people on Mars.
Applicants who are accepted will likely travel on one of four space-crafts currently in operation or development: the ever popular ISS which will comprise of 6 month or 1 year missions of science and exploration, two currently developing US commercial crew crafts and NASA’s Orion deep-space exploration vehicle. The future is here folks (if you’re American), so if you meet these requirements and can’t seem to travel far away enough from your home, then this might be the opportunity you’ve been waiting for your whole life.
If you’re looking to apply; get yourself to their website: http://www.usajobs.gov and sign up.
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