Astronaut Qualifications Quotes

If my vision was good enough, I'd be an astronaut.

NASA has never had a problem finding capable people to be astronauts. NASA's problem was, and still is, finding ways to cut the list of capable applicants down to a manageable length.

The opportunities to become an astronaut in Canada were far and few.

Not until the space shuttle started flying did NASA concede that some astronauts didn't have to be fast-jet pilots. And at that point, sure enough, women started becoming astronauts.

There was a point in my life where I either wanted to be an astronaut, an actor, a veterinarian, or a pirate. I just thought being in space would be really cool, but then you have to have 20/20 vision, which I don't have, so there.

Two months after I got out of test pilot school, I saw an advert that said NASA was recruiting more astronauts. The best job you could have as a test pilot was being an astronaut, so I volunteered.

Astronauts working for the government will always need to be either pilots or mission specialists. Those who want to be pilots should have military experience - ideally, a test pilot background.

Most astronauts are very down-to-earth people. Many of us, three-quarters, have an engineering degree, and we have a very Cartesian, rational approach to things.

I think the astronaut job is the best job in the world. I realized when I was older and started applying for it that it's a pretty cool job.

Everyone in the astronaut program has a degree in a science field. The crew are the ones who do the experiments, help to design some of the experiments that come from other primary researchers. So it becomes very important that you have a science background.

I really feel like, on my first mission, the first mission is when you prove yourself and hopefully deserve the privilege to continue as an astronaut and remain in the corps and get granted an opportunity for a second mission.

To be one of the world's top space robotic arm operators is a necessary skill for an astronaut, but it doesn't have much carry-over.

On a standard space shuttle crew, two of the astronauts have a test pilot background - the commander and the pilot.

Becoming an astronaut was a little bit of happenstance for me.

Well, for me it really wasn't a case of deciding to be an astronaut.

Then, much later, my next dream was to become an astronaut, and I was fortunate to realize that dream, also.

We need to have people up there who can communicate what it feels like, not just pilots and engineers.

And, so I set my goals on astronaut because, as a military aviator, it was, I considered that to be about the peak of a flying career.

The prerequisite that people have a scientific or engineering degree or a medical degree limits the number of female astronauts. Right now, still, we have about 20 per cent of people who have that prerequisite who are female. So hey, girls: Embrace the very fun career of science and technology. Look at computer science. That's what I did.

I don't think you ever really decide that you want to be an astronaut. I put in an application and hoped for the best.

By my mid-30s, I just thought, 'This is not going to happen. I am never going to become an astronaut in the U.K.'

The most important steps that I followed were studying math and science in school. I was always interested in physics and astronomy and chemistry and I continued to study those subjects through high school and college on into graduate school. That's what prepared me for being an astronaut; it actually gave me the qualifications to be selected to be an astronaut.

My advice for an aspiring astronaut is to really follow your passion. I mean, study something that interests you, but also qualifies you to apply. NASA recruits from a wide variety of backgrounds. I know people who have applied to be an astronaut who ask me, well should I do this or should I do that. And I said, you know, it doesn't matter. The basic requirements are you have to be in good health, and you have to have a good heart, I mean in a technical way, not to be a kind person, well that helps. Study something that you like and do well in it.