Dreaming of leaving the planet?
NASA is on the lookout for the subsequent group of astronauts, and this is what happened until April 2 to arrange your presentation.
“It’s usually a very popular application,” said April Jordan, astronaut selection manager at NASA.
The probabilities of you getting chosen are slim. The last time NASA issued a call for proposals in 2020, greater than 12,000 people applied.
It took the agency a yr and a half to process the applications. NASA chosen only 10 candidates, or 0.083 percent. This makes Harvard’s 3.5 percent acceptance rate for top school applicants seem high.
“So when I say ‘popular,’” Ms. Jordan said, “it’s probably an understatement.”
Ms. Jordan is on a media tour to spread the word that the “right things” to be an astronaut in 2024 aren’t the identical as they were within the Sixties, when astronauts were exclusively white men, just about all of them from the military.
On the tour, which included a stop at The New York Times, she was accompanied by Victor Glover, a nine-year astronaut corps veteran, who explained how he went through the rigorous selection process.
To turn out to be a NASA astronaut today, you have to be a U.S. citizen and pass the astronaut physical exam.
NASA sets the bar for education quite high – a master’s degree in science, technology, engineering or mathematics, followed by no less than three years of relevant skilled experience.
Additionally, the agency tries to maintain an open mind. (For example, there aren’t any age restrictions or 20/20 vision requirement.)
“We want the group of astronaut candidates we select to reflect the nation it represents,” Ms. Jordan said.
Take Mr. Glover for instance.
In some respects he suits into the historical archetype. Before NASA, he was a Naval aviator training to be a test pilot.
It also breaks down historical barriers.
In 2020, he became the primary Black astronaut to function a crew member on the International Space Station after 20 years as astronauts there. In 2025, he’ll turn out to be the primary black astronaut to fly across the Moon as part of the Artemis II mission.
To stand out in NASA’s competitive application process, Glover knew he would wish greater than just a good resume. He was especially desirous about making a good joke.
The night before one of his 2013 NASA interviews, Mr. Glover was asked to jot down an essay. Title: “Girls like astronauts.”
“They sit in this room all day and listen to all these dry answers,” he recalled his thoughts. “I’ll try to make them laugh.”
The essay went from punchline to poignant and reflected the ways he tried to encourage his 4 daughters. He also selected to stay vulnerable in the course of the interview, sharing a “stupid” moment when he risked almost hitting the water during an air show.
“You need to be able to share this information with the audition panel when you show up because you will inevitably fail at something,” Ms. Jordan said. “So there is a humility that you have to show even if you have achieved great things.”
As part of the applying process, Mr. Glover wrote a letter limerick which concluded: “This is all making me dizzy because I’ve given so much blood and pee.”
Mr. Glover desired to go to space as a child when he saw his classmates moved to tears by the Challenger disaster.
His space ambitions deepened a few years later when he heard a speech by Pam Melroy, former space shuttle commander. Ms. Melroy, now NASA’s deputy administrator, told how her crew tried to repair the damaged solar system on the International Space Station.
“I thought, ‘Wow, she just talked about something really technical that’s really logistically challenging,’” Glover said. “But the emotion in this movie was about the people.”
He then realized that just as astronauts need technical skills, in addition they need something that is harder to learn: social skills.
“You’re going to be living in this can with someone for six months,” he said of being on the space station. “We are almost choosing family members.”
Mr. Glover proudly points out the various backgrounds of current astronauts. “If you compare our office to the demographics of the country, we fit the country very well,” he said.
Indeed, diversity at NASA exceeds that of the private sector in some respects. The percentage of black astronauts is higher than the proportion of black people within the broader science and technology workforce, Glover said.
He said it’s a direct result of NASA’s ongoing efforts over the past several a long time to recruit astronauts beyond the standard archetype.
“Our office looks the way it does because of intentionality and thinking about our biases and how they impact who we hire,” he said. “I think it’s a huge victory.”
But Glover acknowledged that diversity as a recruitment goal is becoming more problematic.
Critics include Elon Musk, the billionaire who runs SpaceX, the rocket company that NASA relies on to move cargo, and astronauts – like Mr. Glover – to the International Space Station. NASA also hired SpaceX to land astronauts on the moon.
“His view on some things is a little troubling,” Glover said of Musk.
SpaceX didn’t reply to Mr. Musk’s request for comment.
Musk has repeatedly called for an end to programs that deal with diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI. “DEI is just another word for racism,” he said sent in January on X, the social network he owns.
Glover said he had just listened to a controversial interview that Don Lemon, a former CNN anchor, recently conducted with Mr. Musk. “My mom sent me this and she says, ‘Does he remember that you flew in his spaceship?’” he said. “I said, ‘Mom, he probably remembers it very vividly.’ He has great intellect, but he probably doesn’t care.
People ask him how he feels about being the first black man to go on a mission to the moon next year when Artemis II orbits the moon without landing.
“I actually feel sad,” Mr. Glover said. “It’s 2025 and I’ll be the first? Hurry up.”
He told the story of Ed Dwight, the only Black Air Force pilot in the 1960s who met the strict requirements set for astronauts by NASA. But Mr. Dwight was never elected.
“Ed Dwight could have done it in the 1960s.” Glover said. “How much better would our country be if it actually got a chance? Society was not ready. It’s not him. He was ready.
While Mr. Glover has heard of opposition to DEI initiatives, he firmly believes that pursuing diversity is not about lowering standards and accepting less qualified candidates. “I think it should just be perfection,” he said. “As long as you don’t equate whiteness and maleness with perfection, everything is fine. We speak the same language.”
Many candidates are drawn to the potential glory of being the first astronaut to step on Mars, an achievement NASA is pursuing in the 2030s.
But Mr Glover said they should also consider the sacrifices they and their families will make along the way.
“A trip to Mars takes six to nine months,” he said. “You will be away from your friends for over a year, anywhere from one to three years. Are you really ready for this?”
