Still nothing on the Man Mars mission?

[fatal291]

When will NASA let people know when they will begin searching for astronauts to go to Mars? I am currently 17 but turn 18 later on this year. I've been hearing about going to Mars & back to the Moon for quite awhile. I do not know what it takes to become an astronomer yet but I'm from Richmond Virginia and I plan on going to Hampton sometime soon to learn more there. <br /><br />With the training it takes will I even be able to go at my age? I realize that the rovers are analyzing the atmosphere and conditions for the future mission and I would have thought if we we're still going within my life time training would have began by now or something. Does anyone here know anything?

 

[tfwthom]

Mars?????<br /><br />Don't hold your breath!<br /><br />I'm still waiting on the flying car and the weekend trips to the Moon in the year 2000 that were promised back in the 1950's and 60's <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font size="1" color="#3366ff">www.siriuslookers.org</font> </div>

 

[doc_harra]

Humanity I guess would not be there for a the foreseeable future , But the access to remote learning, Mapping and Mining should be in common use more, in the near future I imagine *(30 years maybe) coupled with the advancements in perspective technology and the ability of advanced technology and communication via remote it might seem like you a really there before long, not in person but in mind and spirit "send out the machine's !"<br />Xbox Simulator/Game good for a bit of Fun !<br />http://www.steelbattalion.org/<br /><br />Do I need a third hand to control this biyatch? <br /><br />No, but it certainly would help.

 

[fatal291]

Well how will I be able to go on a manned mission? Maby to the moon althogh the ISS would be good I would like to go onto a body. Like i said i turn 18 in Dec so i'm looking for training as soon as possible.

 

[spacester]

Um, you're on the wrong forum here. Try Missions & Launches.<br /><br />And frankly, uplink.space.com in general has a lot of folks who seem to be (IMHO) too bitter about past disappointments to hold out much hope for the future. You'll probably find more encouragement and guidance somewhere else. (Fellow sdc'rs, please go ahead and prove me wrong.)<br /><br />Personally, I think most of the folks here are off by decades. They no doubt think the same of me, but I'd rather be an optimist.<br /><br />We make our own future, individually and collectively. <br /><br />Go for it. Learn Math and Science: Your goal is to be able to look around you and understand how things work, to be able to see something happen and understand how science explains it and how math calculates it. We need people like that no matter what the schedule of space development.<br /><br />Check out www.redcolony.com and www.marshome.org<br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[CalliArcale]

My assumption is that they will draw from the existing astronaut corps at the time. So if you want to go to Mars, apply to become an astronaut candidate. <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /><br /><br />Before you do that, though, you'll have to get some experience to make yourself competitive. After all, lots of other people want to be astronauts too, and you'll have to show why you're a better choice than they are. You should get flight experience. Experience with experimental aircraft is a plus. Experience with high-performance aircraft (i.e. supersonic ones) is a major plus, but you'll have a hard time getting it outside of the military. That's why most astronauts are former military pilots, usually from USAF, the Navy, or the Marines. (There's at least one Army astronaut, a former helicopter pilot, and one Coast Guard. Neither are qualified to fly the Shuttle, though. That's where they require high-performance aircraft experience.)<br /><br />Advanced degrees are another major plus. Medicine, aerospace engineering, other engineering fields, materials science, astronomy, chemistry, biology, physics, geology, mathematics.... They really like seeing those kinds of things on your resume.<br /><br />So, since you're about to graduate high school, I'd say your first step should be college. You're going to need at least a bachelor's degree. You can figure out the rest as you go. <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /> Not all astronauts have military experience, so it's not a requirement at all. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>

 

[jschaef5]

The first thing you should consider is do you want to go into the military for a while. You can get some good training and get a degree in engineering as well. But if you won't want to go military you can go to major engineering schools. I go to Purdue right now for aerospace and the big thing here is that we have turned out the most astronauts (other then the military), i think almost 30 maybe? and thats out of what 300 total? So it seems like the military is the way to go. But even then you have to be elite. They only want the best.<br /><br />If I were you, I'd look at going into ROTC. I tried but got rejected cause I have astma <img src="/images/icons/frown.gif" /> But I never wanted to be an astronaut, just an engineer. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[fatal291]

This is the right place because I would like an Astronomer to reply to this..

 

[qso1]

Under the Bush plan, a Mars mission as I recall was vaguely defined as sometime past the year 2020. Therefore, NASA is not likely to need astronauts specifically for Mars before about 2015.<br /><br />Your at the right age for being a candidate however. If you follow the advice already posted here by others, your chances of success should increase significantly.<br /><br />Unfortunately, I'm not convinced we will go to Mars without private industry doing it with NASA or possibly but less likely, without NASA.<br /><br />Bush will be out of office in just 3 years and whoever is elected President then may not have the same priorities. NASA always seems to take the back seat when budgets are prioritized. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><strong>My borrowed quote for the time being:</strong></p><p><em>There are three kinds of people in life. Those who make it happen, those who watch it happen...and those who do not know what happened.</em></p> </div>