Do you have a 4-year-old in your house who can explain elliptical orbits? Were you surprised to hear that your 7-year-old thinks Apollo Astronaut Bob Lovell is a really cool guy? Do your teenagers fight to get a look at the Mir through the family telescope? If someone in your family has become space-obsessed, you are not alone. “Astronaut” has quickly shot to the top of the list of what kids want to be when they grow up, and it’s easy to see why.
In recent months, NASA (National Aeronautics & Space Administration) has captured all our imaginations with breathtaking pictures of the Martian landscape and the discovery of water on the moon. Even preschoolers were lured into the vacuum of space over their morning cereal when Sesame Street launched Slimy the worm and his fellow NASA (Worm Air & Space Agency) astro-worms into space for a moon walk.
Combine these exciting developments with the July launch of the first piece of the International Space Station, and we have an atmosphere ripe for the development of thousands of future astronauts. That’s a good thing because the same organization that is inspiring our kids today will be hiring them tomorrow. NASA’s demand for astronauts and the scientists who launch them into space is increasing.
So when your child says she wants to be an astronaut, this might be just another phase she’s going through. Or it might be the beginning of a fascination with science and technology that will take her into orbit and beyond. Why not encourage her to start training today?
What is an astronaut?
When it comes to knowing the job description of an astronaut, Ashleigh and Jacob McCord both have it figured out. Seven-year-old Ashleigh says that astronauts “See planets and bring back pictures and find out stuff about planets that people don’t know.” Her brother Jacob, 6, says the astronaut’s job is “controlling the ship.”
The first step in planning for a career among the stars is to decide which of these two types of astronauts you want to be. Do you want to fly and control the spacecraft? If so, then you want to be a pilot astronaut. A pilot astronaut may serve as the shuttle commander or the pilot. The commander has overall responsibility for the shuttle vehicle, the crew, and the safety and success of the mission. The pilot assists the commander in operating and controlling the vehicle.
If you want to perform space walks, take pictures, and conduct experiments, then you want to be a mission specialist astronaut. A mission specialist has specific duties relating to the mission’s experiments and payload. For example, one mission specialist might be in charge of a group of plant or animal experiments. Another might be responsible for retrieving and repairing a satellite.