NASA Offering Out-Of-This World Job Opportunity

Anyone who has ever dreamed of blasting off into outer space from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center might want to take down a date.

NASA has announced it will start accepting applications for open astronaut positions starting on Dec. 14. Those adventurous enough to apply will find the application period is set to remain open through mid-February 2016 with the agency announcing its new class of candidates sometime in mid-2017.

With a starting pay of about $65,140 a year and a cap out at $100,701, space explorers earn a fair amount above the county’s median annual wage of $47,230, reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The job isn’t for everyone though, NASA noted in a media release about its call for applicants. Ideal candidates include pilots, engineers, scientists and medical doctors, among others. The agency “selects qualified astronaut candidates from a diverse pool of U.S. citizens with a wide variety of backgrounds,” release notes.

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Astronauts accepted in the new class may fly on any of four different vessels during their careers. They include the International Space Station, the Orion deep-space exploration vehicle and two commercial crew spacecraft currently in development by U.S. companies.

The agency specifically pointed out that its future astronauts can count on launching from Florida’s Space Coast. The push to hire is being prompted by the agency’s planned trip to Mars, among other proposed missions.

“This next group of American space explorers will inspire the Mars generation to reach for new heights, and help us realize the goal of putting boot prints on the Red Planet,” NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said.

Brian Kelly, the agency’s director of flight operations at Houston’s Johnson Space Center, said now is a particularly good time to entertain the idea of becoming an astronaut.

“NASA has taken the next step in the evolution of our nation’s human spaceflight program – and our U.S. astronauts will be at the forefront of these new and challenging space flight missions,” he said. “We encourage all qualified applicants to learn more about the opportunities for astronauts at NASA and apply to join our flight operations team.”

So, who qualifies to apply? According to the agency, candidates must have:

• At least a bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution in such disciplines as engineering, physical science, biological science or mathematics
• At least 3 years of related professional experience or at least 1,000 hours of pilot-in-command time in a jet aircraft

Candidates must also have the ability to pass the NASA long-duration spaceflight physical. For the record, age isn’t as much of a factor as some might think. NASA’s youngest astronaut was Sally Ride at 32. John Glenn was 77 on his last mission, beating out the record formerly held by Story Musgrave, who was 61, when he flew in 1996.

Applications for the program will be available on www.usajobs.gov starting Dec. 14. To learn more about the life of an astronaut, visit NASA online.

Photo courtesy of NASA: Astronaut Kjell Lindgren corrals fresh fruit on board the Kounotori 5 H-II Transfer Vehicle.