Becoming an astronaut

We are entering the ‘post-shuttle era’, but that doesn’t mean it’s the end of astronauts. Space agencies, ESA included, are continuing training people to go up into space. In fact, we may see many more astronauts in the years to come as private companies start exploring space as well.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-radio-and-tv-21773586

Becoming an astronaut is tough, no doubt about it. Typically astronauts are specialized in science (physics and/or chemistry), maths, or engineering. Some astronauts are pilots turned space-men (women), so one way to becoming an astronaut is to first become an air-force pilot. Oh, and it’s pretty dangerous.

Here is a link to the ESA and NASA recruitment pages:

http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Human_Spaceflight/Astronauts

http://astronauts.nasa.gov

But astronauts are just one of the thousands of careers available if you love high-tech stuff and want to work in space exploration.

One of the most interesting things I noticed when visiting Guiana was the mass of people running around speaking German, Italian, French, English, Spanish, and many other European (and many non-European) languages. It's actually incredibly strange to have all of these highly-trained rocket scientists, project managers, astronauts, etc. running around the jungle. 

ESA, one of the smaller space agencies, employs more than 2000 people. Managing everything from satellites, the rockets, earth observation, pioneering new technologies, human spaceflight, telecommunications etc. So there’s no one set of skills ESA needs, although sciences are almost always recommended.

If you look up at the sky and wonder what it’s all about, and really want to work in anything to do with space, cutting edge technology, travel (sounds like the best job ever already...), then ESA might be the place.

Here is a link to the youth (6 to 28 years old) program launched by ESA:

http://www.esa.int/Education/ESA_at_the_forefront_of_space_education

It includes a ‘Space University’, summer university courses, summer schools, space camp, links to the NASA academy and more. These are open to anyone from an ESA member state:

http://www.esa.int/Education/Courses