Anyone thought of trying to be an astronaut?

[parliamentarian]

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[Doctor246853]

The application process is extremely competitive, but I think many astronauts have been medical doctors.

I don't think the pay is very good, but you'd be a freaking astronaut.

ONLY!! AND I MEAN ONLY if they let me perform surgery on the moon.

 

[DaisyBuchanan]

One of my mom's doctor friends from residency was an astronaut (not a trollish lie I swear), and she seemed pretty into it.

I'm not sure how many space trips NASA's going to be having in the future; aren't they phasing out space missions because of the cost?

 

[minervamoon]

Definitely. But if one thought application to med school was competitive, try getting through the astronaut selection. The numbers are enough to make you weep.

 

[sedaniel]

Haha, this is totally what I wanted to do when I was younger

 

[crixx]

I was extremely close to going down the cosmologist/astronaut path, however, it is almost essential that you go into the navy/airforce first which turned me off to it.

 

[45408]

I actually first decided to become a doctor because I knew that Story Musgrave (an astronaut) was a physician. Like someone else said, if you think it's competitive to get into med school, you'll really be shocked when you see how hard it is to be an astronaut. They get thousands of applicants for 1-2 spots. They'll take a handful of people and train them for a year or two, and then they'll pick 1-2 to actually be an astronaut. You could spend years training with NASA to be an astronaut and STILL not be one.

I just perused Musgrave's Wikipedia page, and he was quite the accomplished fellow. Served in the Marines, went to Columbia School of P&S, worked on the Skylab program...

 

[deleted74029]

I actually first decided to become a doctor because I knew that Story Musgrave (an astronaut) was a physician. Like someone else said, if you think it's competitive to get into med school, you'll really be shocked when you see how hard it is to be an astronaut. They get thousands of applicants for 1-2 spots. They'll take a handful of people and train them for a year or two, and then they'll pick 1-2 to actually be an astronaut. You could spend years training with NASA to be an astronaut and STILL not be one.

I just perused Musgrave's Wikipedia page, and he was quite the accomplished fellow. Served in the Marines, went to Columbia School of P&S, worked on the Skylab program...

I met Story Musgrave around 2 years ago when he participated in my undergrad's lecture series, super intelligent and very nice guy. But I'll be honest, his talk wasn't all that impressive.

As far as being an astronaut, that would be awesome. The universe has always peaked my interest, I still watch an episode of Cosmos almost every night, Carl Sagan is great at telling bedtime stories.

 

[NickNaylor]

Being an astronaut was a childhood fantasy of sorts which has gone by the wayside now, but I still want to fly planes at some point. I've flirted with the idea of becoming a flight surgeon, but I wouldn't want to live a military life.

 

[45408]

Being an astronaut was a childhood fantasy of sorts which has gone by the wayside now, but I still want to fly planes at some point. I've flirted with the idea of becoming a flight surgeon, but I wouldn't want to live a military life.

My vision isn't up to par, and most Air Force pilots get to fly boring stuff. I'd want the fighter jets, which is super competitive. I'll just have to settle for getting my pilot's license some day or something.

 

[McBatCommander]

Astronauts are the best of the best of the best. There is nothing average about any of them. You have to pretty much cure cancer to be considered worthy. This is one thing where it is safe to assume you will NEVER become one.

 

[unhappytnt]

Being an astronaut was a childhood dream of mine too. I am still hoping that by the time I am 40 or 50 we will have a running base on Moon so I can practice there. 😀

 

[gasbait]

I wanted too, but when I was 14 I realized there was no way I could pass the physical exam.

Needless to say, after I finished watching GATTACA, I almost cried

 

[familyaerospace]

I always did, but then I realised I probably shouldn't be an astronaut.

I still want to work with or for NASA which is why I have an MS in Space Studies. I've done some work with RSA and ESA. One of the reasons I want to go into medicine is to return to my aerospace research that I loved so much.