
Job Opening: "Frequent travel may be required" - anonymoustrolol
http://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/302967000
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mmaunder
"Since all crewmembers will be expected to fly aboard the Soyuz vehicle and
perform Extravehicular Activities (space walks), applicants must meet the
anthropometric requirements for both the Soyuz vehicle and the extravehicular
activity mobility unit (space suit). Applicants brought in for interview will
be evaluated to ensure they meet the anthropometric requirements."

...or you will be charged for two seats.

~~~
commieneko
It kind of pisses me off that the US is having to buy seats on Soyuz launches.
Of course I grew up reading Tom Corbett and watched the first moon landing on
a 12 inch black and white TV...

~~~
jobu
I think it's fantastic for two reasons. First, it keeps the lights on for the
Russian space industry (more players makes for a more interesting field).
Second, I believe the next big achievements in space will likely be done by
private industry. This sets a bar for the cost to get people into space.
Whenever some company can safely match the price of $50mil per person we will
start having some real competition.

~~~
commieneko
I've been waiting for this to happen for over 30 years. No one will be happier
than I will if/when a real space industry develops. But just like I think it
is foolish for the US to outsource its manufacturing industry, it is doubly
foolish to outsource our space program.

I'd almost sooner outsource our military... (opps!!!)

(Side note, there's a big difference between space industry and space science
research. The needs of physicists/astronomers are different than the needs of
engineers, even if there is some overlap. Both need to be supported and
encouraged. And both need both private and government funding.)

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coderdude
>>SALARY RANGE: $64,724.00 to $141,715.00 / Per Year

Space Shuttle Endeavour cost about $1.7 billion, each Space Shuttle flight
cost $450 million, $480.1 million has been awarded through the COTS program -
and they would pay an astronaut $65k/year. I'm guessing they feel that the
rare opportunity to be in space is enough pay for you. ;)

I'd still do it if I qualified for it.

PS: I wish people would stop with the lazy and "funny" comments. It's like
wading through crap.

~~~
bbrizzi
I find this low too but the job title is "Astronaut Candidate". This probably
does not guarantee that you'll actually go to space. If you manage to go
through all the training and get on a real space mission, the salary will
probably be higher.

~~~
tomkarlo
Why would they pay more? It's not like you're going to quit after getting
selected for flight just because you want a $10K raise.

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numlocked
It's incredible how relatively sparse the application itself is. No essays, no
short answers, no letters of recommendation. No prose of any kind. Simply a
resume, references, an academic transcript, and a small list of "additional
skills". The astronaut website talks repeatedly about focusing on candidates
with high levels of academic achievement, and I guess they aren't kidding.
With this application, for better or worse, that's about all they have to go
on in this screening round.

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artmageddon
I'm surprised that they will accept a graduation degree in lieu of 1,000+
hours of pilot-in-command time in a jet aircraft. I'm a private pilot of
single-engine propeller airplanes and getting my degree in CS is certainly no
substitute!

I'm applying tonight.

~~~
numlocked
They have 2 paths to qualify - piloting astronauts and non-piloting. So it's
not a substitute, per se.

~~~
philwelch
That's an interesting throwback to the days when all astronauts were test
pilots, but it's kind of stupid nowadays, for reasons Robert Zubrin points out
in his Mars Direct plan. It's simply easier to train a qualified engineer or
scientist to be a pilot than it is to train a qualified pilot to be an
engineer or scientist--and on any mission that's at all interesting, it's
silly to waste space on an astronaut who isn't an engineer or a scientist.

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sv123
Does anybody know how competitive something like this is? Do they get
thousands or tens of thousands of applicants? I want to set my expectations
accordingly.

~~~
listrophy
I have a rejection letter from the last round. IIRC, the letter said the
number applicants was either 2k or 20k. Sorry for the huge range, but it was
~4 years ago. I believe they accepted 12 into the program.

~~~
hugh3
Kinda makes me wonder why they don't tighten up the application criteria.
Bachelor's degree in something vaguely sciencey plus three years experience?
Compare that to the _actual_ CVs of the nine folks they selected (out of 3500)
last time:

<http://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/ascans2009.html>

~~~
listrophy
For some perspective of where I was: bachelors degrees in "Computer Science"
and "Engineering Mechanics & Astronautics." And 4 years of aerospace
engineering experience. I just barely made it past the official requirements,
but I'm pretty sure they wanted someone older/more experienced. I'm also not
in amazing shape, but I was Good Enough(tm). Apparently it wasn't enough to
warrant an interview. _shrug_

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gcv
I wonder if a computer science degree counts as education in a branch of
mathematics (which qualifies), or in "technology" (which does not).

~~~
philwelch
"Basic Education Requirement: A bachelor's degree from an accredited college
or university with major study in engineering, physical science, mathematics,
life sciences, _computer science_ , or other field of science."

~~~
MichaelGagnon
"The following degree fields are not considered qualifying: \--Degrees in
Technology (Engineering Technology, Aviation Technology, Medical Technology,
etc.) "

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commieneko
Doesn't pay as much as I would have thought.

(But the bennies are out of this world.)

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wavephorm
It's probably easier to start a photo-sharing social media network, sell it to
Facebook, and use the proceeds to buy a Virgin Galactic ticket, than to get
this job.

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mkramlich
I'm glad it didn't require 20 years of Java experience.

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shareme
Can you hear me Major Tom..

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grandalf
One of the few jobs I'm too tall for.

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ew
Oh darn, I'm too tall. At least I've got a good excuse for _cough_ not being
an astronaut _cough_

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snorkel
"Astronaut Candidates will be required to pass a swimming test during the
first month of training."

Does the back float count?

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chris_gogreen
"Frequent travel may be required" is not all that strange considering this is
for an astronaut...

~~~
sliverstorm
It is a form of humor on the part of the HN submitter. Though for the life of
me I can't recall what type. It's not irony. Gross understatement?

~~~
nandemo
Not even that, since most astronauts don't really travel to space
_frequently_. It would have to be "involves somewhat _longish_ trips" to be a
proper understatement.

Since the ad is for astronaut _candidates_ , the frequent travel is presumably
of the boring, Earth-bound type.

~~~
sliverstorm
Wry humor becomes much less funny when you insist on analyzing it and adhering
to the so-called "facts"...

~~~
nandemo
You're right, of course. But I only jumped in after you started it. :-)

