Ask Ethan: How do I become an astrophysicist/astronaut?
If you have dreams of space, here’s your guide… to more than just school!
“I’m coming back in… and it’s the saddest moment of my life.” -Ed White, at the end of his first spacewalk
We all had dreams of what we wanted to be when we were younger. But how many of us grow up to achieve what the childhood versions of ourselves set out to be? Millions of people want to go to space, but only thousands have ever been. Scientists and doctors are never far from the list of what people want to be when they grow up, but only a small percent ever get there. So what advice would you give to a young teenager, at the start of their life, who wants to become an astronaut or an astrophysicist? We get our chance on today’s Ask Ethan, thanks to Gabe Denty, who asks:
I am looking to hopefully become an astronaut/astrophysicist when I am older, I thought it would be good if I asked a real astrophysicist what it would be like to have that kind of career. […] Although my overall goal is to become an astronaut, I have heard it is not exactly like a full-time career, so if I was to pair it with anything else, astrophysics would probably be it. I’d love to know what you have heard about astronauts and the different kinds of astrophysicists, or if there is some other career…
