Doses Of Sunshine

skysignal:

Qualifications of an Astronaut Candidate (according to NASA):

• Must be a U.S. citizen.
• Must have a bachelor’s degree in engineering, biological science, physical science, or mathematics from an accredited institution.
• Must be able to pass the NASA long-duration space flight physical, which has minimum requirements for visual acuity, blood pressure and standing height.
• Mission specialist (non-pilot) candidates must have at least three years of related, progressively responsible, professional experience. An advanced degree is desirable and may be substituted for experience (a master’s degree equals one year of experience, a doctoral degree equals three years of experience). Teaching experience, including experience at the K-12 levels, is considered to be qualifying experience for the astronaut candidate position.
• Pilot astronaut candidates must have at least 1,000 hours pilot-in-command time in jet aircraft. Flight test experience is highly desirable.

There are 20 openings for astronauts in NASA every two years. Salaries for civilian Astronaut Candidates are based on the Federal Government’s General Schedule pay scale for grades GS-12 through GS-13. Each person’s grade is determined according to his/her academic achievements and experience. Currently, a GS-12 starts at $65,140 per year and a GS-13 can earn up to $100,701 per year.

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