So You Want to be an Astronaut?

01Houston, we have a podcast.

02Welcome to the official podcast of the NASA Johnson Space Center, episode 325.5, So You Want to Be an Astronaut.

03I'm Dane Turner, and I'll be your host for this bonus episode.

04On this podcast, we bring in the experts, scientists, engineers, and astronauts, all to let you know what's going on in the world of human spaceflight and more.

05Have you ever wanted to be an astronaut?

06Well, now's your chance.

07NASA is looking to recruit the next class of astronauts, and applications are open.

08I recently sat down with the manager of NASA Astronaut Selection, April Jordan, to find out more about the selection process and what NASA is looking for in their next astronaut class.

09Enjoy!

10D-minus 5 seconds and counting.

11Mark.

12Mission start.

13D-0.

14Houston, we have a podcast.

15April, thank you so much for coming on Houston, we have a podcast.

16Thank you for having me.

17It's an exciting topic to talk about.

18We're really excited to talk about.

19We're really excited to meet our new astronauts and have people apply to be the next class.

20So, looking back on the 2020 application process, that's when the current class applied to be an astronaut.

21How many applications did we receive back then?

22Yeah, this is a very popular application, as you can imagine.

23Last year, we had over 12,000 applications in for this role.

24To get to selection of 10 new astronaut candidates is really difficult.

25That's a lot of applications to go through.

26And that year, we had some new requirements added.

27Applicants had to have a master's degree.

28With this new selection, do we have new requirements coming out?

29Yeah, we always take a look at the requirements that we're assessing for this job.

30Just like NASA's missions are changing and the needs that we have as an agency are changing, we want to make sure that we are accommodating our process to meet those needs.

31So, there are a lot of subject matter experts that are involved in this.

32And post-selection, we take a look at, hey, what worked the last time.

33Also look at, what are the missions ahead of us and what the needs are?

34And assess, are the qualifications different?

35And that's really benefited us to make sure we're adapting what we're looking for from some of the shorter duration missions that we used to do, going to some longer duration missions that we're currently in and that are ahead of us.

36So, for the master's degree, we did change that last cycle.

37We took a look at what we were selecting, who we were selecting, and what their educational backgrounds were.

38And for the most part, that is what we were selecting as folks with an advanced level of education, which really benefits them coming into the office.

39So, this year, we're also making a few changes and looking at what we need for the office.

40And so, all of those will be listed on our website, nasa.gov forward slash astronauts.

41And I just encourage folks that when they are applying to read the application in great detail, there's a lot of information there.

42I know it can be a little intimidating, but it's really important to understand what the qualifications are generally, and then for each specific discipline group that we're looking for.

43Right, because last time around, we saw that there were different requirements for pilots.

44Yes, yes.

45Because that experience is a little bit different for those folks, we're looking for some flight hour qualifications around that.

46So, specifically for pilots, they do have to have a minimum of 1,000 flight hours, with 850 of those being in a high-performance jet aircraft.

47So, again, just looking at each discipline, what they're going to bring to the office, what kind of roles they may have.

48And so, for some of those discipline groups, the specific requirements are a little bit different.

49Great.

50What kinds of people are you looking for, kind of generally, for this application?

51Well, this is a difficult job.

52It's an exciting job and a difficult job.

53And, you know, what I'm sharing is what I've learned through selection process, with processes with astronauts themselves.

54They are part of the subject matter expert group that is a part of selection.

55So, we're not just going out selecting astronauts on our own.

56We have a lot of folks from that office that have experience flying that really help us determine what's going to make a great astronaut.

57And so, we're definitely looking for folks with leadership skills.

58But teaming, being able to be a great team player and a great team partner, is a huge part of this job.

59I don't think there's anything that they're doing that they do individually.

60You know, there are teams on the ground that are helping them.

61There's a lot of training.

62They have teams that are helping them there.

63So, being a really good team player, being able to kind of vacillate between those roles, knowing when you have to be a leader, when you can be a follower, need to be a follower, is really important.

64And folks need to be adaptable.

65I mean, this is a role that they're going into where sometimes we don't know exactly what's going to happen.

66Space is an unpredictable environment.

67And even in the training environments, you know, there are some things that are unpredictable there as well.

68So, folks that are able to adapt quickly and make really sound decisions are also really important.

69I would encourage folks, definitely the technical foundation that you have and the technical experience that you have is really important.

70But also thinking about what kinds of things do you do outside of your professional work that might be applicable to this job as well.

71So, our assessment process is a holistic one.

72And so, we're looking at a lot of different things because this is kind of like a life-changing position that people come into.

73And it's not an eight-to-five job all the time.

74And so, kind of looking at what you bring in as a whole person is really important as well.

75So, bringing in a class that is diverse in every way that you can think of is really what helps us be successful for the NASA missions that they take on.

76And so, being able to work with people that come from a variety of backgrounds is also really important.

77This group of people tends to be the face of NASA.

78And we want people to look at the group and see themselves reflected back in that.

79So, it's really important that we look at what are all the different pieces that people are bringing into the job to create a really successful team that's going to come together and do great things for our agency.

80That's really great.

81So, once people apply here, about how long does the process take?

82The process is a long one.

83It takes us about two years from start to finish, which is a really long time.

84And I know for people that apply, it's a long waiting game to kind of hear what's happening next.

85But there are just a lot of different gates that we have to go through.

86As you imagine, if you get 12,000 applications trying to get down to a much smaller level, you want to be really intentional about how you move to the next phases.

87And so, there's some rating panels that are involved in that, that look at resumes, do reference checks.

88And then there's a period of in-person interviews where we bring people here to the Johnson Space Center and have a lot of fun with a lot of different activities for them.

89But it's a pretty long process, very thorough.

90There's a lot of information that we collect to really get to know the applicants that we're considering.

91And we just appreciate people's patience through it, knowing that it's a pretty long waiting game.

92How many people does it take to go through those 12,000 applications?

93That's a great question.

94On our boards, on our astronaut selection board, we tend to have about 12 to 15 people.

95Those are folks that kind of help determine highly qualified candidates.

96They conduct the interviews.

97And they're mostly current astronauts, current flown astronauts that make that up.

98But outside of that, a lot of the medical staff that works here at the Johnson Space Center is involved just in helping with some of those in-person assessments that we do.

99And I don't have a good number, actually, for how many folks that is.

100But there are a lot of different pieces of NASA that play into that.

101There's a training component that folks are kind of helping us with some of those individual and team exercises.

102So there's all different pieces of the Johnson Space Center that we've tapped into that would work with an astronaut if they were selected to really help us evaluate their capabilities.

103Great.

104And I've got one more question for you here.

105If one of our listeners wants to apply to be an astronaut here, do you have any advice on making sure they meet the criteria and how to make their application stand out?

106Yeah.

107Well, the first thing I tell people is that if they think they're interested in the job, they have zero chance of knowing if they would get it if they don't apply.

108So apply.

109If you're interested, throw your name in the hat for sure.

110Second thing is really read the application well.

111You know, if there's a piece of the basic qualifications that's not included in the package, then that gets you kind of put out at the very beginning.

112So be thorough in that.

113And I would just tell them to consider all the pieces of their life that make them who they are and applying and, you know, consider their professional experience.

114But to your point of what you've heard from the current Ask Hands, consider their hobbies.

115You know, what are the things that they like to do outside of their work that would be relatable back to this position?

116So really think holistically about themselves when they're telling us who they are through their application.

117Great.

118I'm really excited to get my resume together.

119April Jordan, thank you so much for coming on Houston We Have a Podcast.

120Thank you for having me.

121I used to go ahead.

122Stop of the space shuttle.

123Roger.

124Zero G and I feel fun.

125Subtle heads where the dial.

126Became a date for all mankind.

127Next thing, a huge honor to bring a record like this.

128Not because they are easy, but because they are hard.

129Never used to.

130Welcome to space.

131Thanks for sticking around.

132We hope you enjoyed hearing about astronaut selection and maybe are considering applying yourself.

133For more information about applying to be an astronaut, check out nasa.gov slash astronauts.

134And if you want more NASA podcasts, you can find us online at nasa.gov slash podcasts.

135You can also find Johnson Space Center on social media on Facebook, X, and Instagram.

136To contact us, use hashtag AskNASA on your favorite platform and make sure to mention it's for Houston We Have a Podcast.

137This episode was recorded February 9th, 2024.

138Thanks to the Houston We Have a Podcast team, Gary Jordan, Will Flato, Abby Graff, Jaden Jennings, and Dominique Crespo.

139Thanks to Chelsea Bayarte for connecting us with the astronaut selection team.

140And of course, thanks again to April Jordan for coming on to speak with us.

141Give us a rating and feedback on whatever platform you're listening to us on and tell us what you think of our podcast.

142We'll be back later this week.

143Thank you.