Astronaut Possibilities?

[staff]

University question

Ok I have a little question. Right now I am a freshman at Texas A&M, and as you all know I have a dream/goal of becoming an astronaut one day. I am thinking of transferring to West Texas A&M- a slightly smaller accredited university in my home town. The reasons are financial, location, and family reasons but nothing is for sure yet. My question is this: does it really matter which one I get my degree from if I want to apply for astronaut way down the road (assuming that I make it, etc...)? I mean, they are both accredited, just one is way more known than the other. I have been told that there really is no difference between state schools as long as they are both accredited, is this true? I do plan on getting an advanced degree and hopefully one from the Naval Postgraduate School so does getting my bachelor's at a small D-2 university hurt me at all????

 

[brs2585]

I have always wanted to get a mission specialist spot. Do you guys think being in the NUPOC program will help at all? I am in the sub pipeline if that makes a difference. I know I need at least a masters in aerospace engineering. But, I am working on a b.s. in mechanical engineering right now. I just wanted to here some feed back if this is a good route (Mechanical Eng > NUPOC Sub > Masters Aerospace Eng)

 

[SgtUSMC]

I would be curious as to whether or not anyone had the stats of how many astronauts did not go to a service academy?

 

[2c_stars_at_noo]

I would be curious as to whether or not anyone had the stats of how many astronauts did not go to a service academy?

Not exactly what you're looking for but, the last time I checked the most astronauts came from USNA with 55, then USAF, and then USMA. There are very few Army astronauts.

The only place where an academy person has the advantage is in the pilot slots. Many of the pilots graduated from an academy. In the payload and mission specialist areas the astronaut is more likely to be someone who didn't graduate from the academy, these are dedicated scientists who have at least a phD, and often mulitple MS's and even another phD.:sleep_125

In the old days circa 1965, Academy grads had a definite advantage, because NASA only wanted test pilots.

 

[eddie]

In the old days circa 1965, Academy grads had a definite advantage, because NASA only wanted test pilots.

That changed???

 

[Ex Rigger]

I would be curious as to whether or not anyone had the stats of how many astronauts did not go to a service academy?

I would say that the majority did not, regardless of what the high school senior above says. Graduating from the Academy does not give you an advantage to getting into Test Pilot school. You can read the bios....

 

[staff]

There are many pilot astronauts and commanders that did not graduate from an academy. A good number went to your normal state school but did go on to get a degree from NPS in the Navy's case. I even saw a pilot that started out getting her degree from a community college- a true testament to not HAVING to go to an academy to reach that goal.

 

[eye_malfunction]

He's the real deal all right.

I had the opportunity to sit down and talk to Bolden one day when I was about 13 years old. He was at Miramar at the time. He signed three pictures for me. Great guy and he's definitely the real deal. After meeting him it seemed like no task was too big to accomplish, even as a 13 year old.

 

[2c_stars_at_noo]

I would say that the majority did not, regardless of what the high school senior above says. Graduating from the Academy does not give you an advantage to getting into Test Pilot school. You can read the bios....

I am a senior in College, not high school. Thanks for assuming things about me, and my knowledge base. Because we all know what happens when we assume things...

And I never said that, "Graduating from the Academy gives you an advantage to getting into Test Pilot school."

All I was trying to say is, if there was ever a comparitive advantage to becoming an astronaut it was "back in the day." And that isn't even necissarily true.

Some of the most famous and sucessful astronauts went to regular colleges. Eillen Collins, Storey Musgrave, John Glenn, Sally Ride, etc. And some other very famous astronauts did. Al Shepard (USNA), Jim Lovell (USNA), Buzz Aldren (USMA), etc.

 

[staff]

Gotta throw in Rick Husband there, he went to my high school and graduated from Texas Tech University

 

[Brett327]

I am a senior in College, not high school. Thanks for assuming things about me, and my knowledge base. Because we all know what happens when we assume things...

Settle down, Beavis.

Brett

 

[Flash]

You're right, the "resign his commission" part just means retirement. Military astronauts stay on active duty the entire time they are with NASA (unless they resign) and are paid as such. They also compete with the rest of the Service for promotion with their peers and, in the case of the USN, they have a very good shot at O-6 even though they have been out of the "real" Navy for many years. Rightly so, they had to be pretty good to get in the door in the first place and they are in leadership roles managing programs in NASA.

I don't know of any Navy Astronauts that came back into the USN, the only one I know of was MGEN Bolden mentioned above. Most guys seem to retire from the military and leave NASA at the same time.

A former XO of mine worked at BUPERS before doing his CO/XO tour and during a brief he gave about promotion boards he mentioned that astronauts do not compete with everyone else when it comes to promotions, they are generally promoted by time in service. If you stay in long enough, you eventually make it to O-6, flag officer is a different story.

I read that the reason MGEN Bolden did not take the position at NASA was that Sec Rumsfeld nixed it. There are only a certain number of flag officer positions authorized by Congress for the military and the SECDEF reportedly did not one of those positions taken up by a guy doing non-DOD work.

 

[staff]

I'll repost my question since it was skipped over.

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Ok I have a little question. Right now I am a freshman at Texas A&M, and as you all know I have a dream/goal of becoming an astronaut one day. I am thinking of transferring to West Texas A&M- a slightly smaller accredited university in my home town. The reasons are financial, location, and family reasons but nothing is for sure yet. My question is this: does it really matter which one I get my degree from if I want to apply for astronaut way down the road (assuming that I make it, etc...)? I mean, they are both accredited, just one is way more known than the other. I have been told that there really is no difference between state schools as long as they are both accredited, is this true? I do plan on getting an advanced degree and hopefully one from the Naval Postgraduate School so does getting my bachelor's at a small D-2 university hurt me at all????

 

[Brett327]

I'll repost my question since it was skipped over.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ok I have a little question. Right now I am a freshman at Texas A&M, and as you all know I have a dream/goal of becoming an astronaut one day. I am thinking of transferring to West Texas A&M- a slightly smaller accredited university in my home town. The reasons are financial, location, and family reasons but nothing is for sure yet. My question is this: does it really matter which one I get my degree from if I want to apply for astronaut way down the road (assuming that I make it, etc...)? I mean, they are both accredited, just one is way more known than the other. I have been told that there really is no difference between state schools as long as they are both accredited, is this true? I do plan on getting an advanced degree and hopefully one from the Naval Postgraduate School so does getting my bachelor's at a small D-2 university hurt me at all????

The simple answer is no, at least as far as the Navy is concerned. Now, if your choice was between MIT or Cal State Fullerton, I would say that the presitige and name recognition of MIT would be a net plus for you, especially if you try to get into a top level civilian graduate program. The Navy typically has very little interest in how or where you get your degree - it's a check in the block.

Brett

 

[staff]

Do you think NASA would care though, because I want to be an astronaut some day. Hopefully they wouldn't care where I get my first bachelor's, even if I do leave Texas A&M, I plan on getting an advanced degree from a big school and hopefully a degree from NPS.