Aspiring astronaut Aspiring Astronaut - Help on my career path, Internships, suggestions, etc.?

Ever since I got my first Lego set around 4-5 years old, I have been obsessed with engineering and science in general. At around age 7 I decided that I wanted to be an astronaut, and since then I have done everything I possibly could to make that a reality. (Summer camps, science clubs, robot teams, etc.)



Now I'm 19 years old attending college at the University of Texas in Arlington. I am working on my degree in Aerospace Engineering, and hope to obtain a doctorate within 10 years. Kalpana Chawla (one of the seven crew members aboard the Columbia in 2003) obtained a Master of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering in 1984 from UTA, so I feel that I am on the right path so far.



But now what do I do?



I have asked many people around campus, and spoken with my academic adviser... no one has given me a very concrete answer.



The responses are mostly ';stick with the aerospace degree program'; or ';look around for internships'; etc. Well, I have, but I don't feel that is enough to get me where I want to go.



The internships/co-ops I have found online are very broad, none of them really say ';this will help you be an astronaut... click here to apply'; even on the NASA website. A lot of companies are also looking for students a little further along in their degrees such as juniors and seniors. I am only a freshman in my first semester of college, but a few companies I spoke with at the Intern/co-op job fair were taking freshmen of my status. So, even though I am limited at the moment, I know there are still a few opportunities out there for me now. Does anyone know of any good Internships that will help me reach my goal?



Also, I have noticed that many of the astronauts that were selected recently had some type of government background as well (like working for the CIA and such) Will a strictly science path work for my career choice? Or do I need some experience with the government too? If so, how do I go about doing this?



I run and work out daily; I eat NO processed foods, junk food, carbonated drinks, caffeine, etc. I keep my body VERY healthy.



Does anybody have any advice that will help me reach my goals? I want to know as much as I can before I get too far ahead down the wrong path. I am a freshman in my first semester at college, so if I need to change something, now is the time.



Thank you all!!!Aspiring astronaut Aspiring Astronaut - Help on my career path, Internships, suggestions, etc.?
You should definitely try to apply to the NASA co-op program and the NASA USRP program. When you interview I would not tell them how obsessed you are with being an astronaut though. That won't make you stand out from the crowd and it doesn't show serious goals (even though you may be serious about it). Excitement about NASA is actually what they will be looking for. That and excelling at school and other activities.



I was a co-op at Johnson Space Center, and we had a lecture from the director of the astronaut selection program every semester. Of course, every college kid thinks it would be cool to be an astronaut so it was a very popular talk.



Here is what i learned from all of those lectures (I would guess I went to 3 of them). There is no magical formula that will ensure you get into the astronaut program. There is no way that an internship can even make such a promise so that is not what you should be looking for. Obviously military experience is a plus. Many astronauts have a military background, but you don't have to have that, and you don't even have to work for the government to be an astronaut. One of the astronauts I know didn't work for the government, but when he had a really good application but didn't make the cut, they brought him to NASA to have him work at NASA until he could apply again.



The trick they told us was that you need to do something you love and be the best at it. If your goal is only to be an astronaut you probably won't get there. If you love working in some interesting field or technology and you become a leader in it, then I would say you have much greater chances. There is no magical school you can attend (although better schools will make an application look better). There have been tons of astronauts so one astronaut getting a master's degree at your school doesn't mean you have started along the right path/formula for some great astronaut career.



Even if you are too early in your academic career to get an intership (from what you are saying), then you can always find research work in your academic department to start getting some experience and start making your resume better. I know for a fact that the JSC co-op program does accept people in their first semester of their sophomore year, so you keep looking at all of the companies you are interested in. Showing a strong interest in the company as well as having a good academic record will be what recruiters are looking for in many cases.



Good luck, and be sure to have other goals you are working towards in the mean time.Aspiring astronaut Aspiring Astronaut - Help on my career path, Internships, suggestions, etc.?
You sound like you're on a great path- healthy eating, exercise, good degree.



One reason why you see people with a background in government is that we trust the product of an enormous quantity of government money in the astronauts. A space shuttle and launch prep can exceed $2 billion dollars- they're not going to let just anybody fly that thing! In addition to being smart, fit, and motivated, they also need to make sure that you're quite sane, stable under pressure, and able to perform very complex tasks under risk of death in uncomfortable and disorienting conditions.



You frankly seem a little obsessed. That's not necessarily bad- it's great to have goals! Just make sure that you're not neglecting your mental health, and you find plenty of enjoyment in life here on earth. Take up some extreme sports- whitewater rafting, skydiving, hang gliding, anything like that. Ideally you'll avoid disaster through careful preparation, paying attention, knowing your limits, and reacting to the unexpected in ways that have been taught to you. I'm not telling you to turn into a total adrenaline junkie- but demonstrating that you can do something physical beyond just running would be good. Showing that you can take some heat and pressure without losing your cool is also good.



Also, it should go without saying, but- stay away from drugs, trouble with the law, etc. It's tempting (and fun) to party in college- for example pulling a Michael Phelps after finals- but the pool of astronauts is still a pretty conservative club.



Good luck!