Routes to take to join NASA

My pleasure.

8 minutes into the flight and everything's performing nominally, that's very good to hear.

This shows the short-sightedness of your teachers, blinded by Oxbridge.

As mentioned earlier by another reader, Imperial is renowned for engineering (and if you believe in league tables, ranks above Oxford for engineering in the latest tables).

Do the course you want to do, not the course that the league tables tell you to do.

Wonder what they would say if it wasn't.. "your all going to die" or .. "that's a negative".

Consider the European Space Agency as well.

Or even the UK Space Agency, don't know too much about it though apart from that my lecturer used to be (probably still is) an advisor for them!

And you can do a space medicine course at UCL (just as a module) where you get taught by awesome people who work for NASA

As has been said, the biggest stumbling block you're likely to find with NASA is your nationality. While astronauts from overseas are [relatively] common, the 'normal' engineering bodies on the ground are not. You're dealing with highly classified information and that sort of thing is usually only allowed to be seen by people who are American by birth [which, tbf, is the same as it is over here - you'd only be able to get certain jobs in Government service if you were British by birth].

OP, is the European Space Agency not an option? They do just about as much work as NASA, all over the world, and would work closely with the Americans, without having to jump through their hoops for things. There are British astronauts working for them and there will be many British engineers/other technical staff on the ground in their various worldwide locations. Don't narrow yourself down so much.


And remember, even companies you might think as 'boring' or not related to space often actually are involved. Rolls Royce, BAE Systems, etc.

Actually, nationality isn't the biggest barrier in this regard. Yes, it's information classified above top secret, but you can be cleared for that in the UK or the US without holding birth nationality.

Similar to the UK, you'll either have to be a US citizen or willing to give up your citizenship. Alongside this, you'll have a lengthy security clearance process, which takes a holistic view of your life history as part of that, and assesses your suitability to view said information on that basis. So long as you're not closely related to trouble, and it's clear that you don't have ulterior motives, life is good

How much could they actually find out about you? You know, with their security clearance. I have nothing to hide but I was wondering how far they can go. I know facebook is allowed to share your profile with companies, I wonder if they would dig through all your messages. Creepy to think about.

Please help, is this a viable route into the space industry? I.E working for UK Space Agency, Nasa, or the ESC:


4 years masters course in Mechanical engineering at university like Nottingham (that sort of ranking)
9 Years in the RAF as an Aero-systems Engineering Offer (which completing an MSc in Aerospace Engineering and become accredited)
3 year phD in Aerospace Engineering (or Science) hopefully being supported by the European space agency (ESE).


I know it's probably not that well though out, bearing in mind I'm only 16

Well I'm not a US law expert.

In the UK the Interception of Communication Act and and Intelligence Services Act probably give enough power for them to, on national security grounds, intercept your communications, but I wouldn't see the need - security clearance isn't really about your personal life so much as motivations, and the potential to be bribed/blackmailed. So long as you're honest about yourself, and you're well-intended, then life is good.

They'd be highly unlikely to ask Facebook for information on you, because that would disclose your identity, and people dealing with classified materials don't normally get their name put in the public domain too much for obvious reasons..

I'm no expert, but I have been putting a bit of research into this subject. I think that would be fine, your service for the RAF should be sufficient work experience. You should also look into graduate degrees.

Actually, nationality isn't the biggest barrier in this regard. Yes, it's information classified above top secret, but you can be cleared for that in the UK or the US without holding birth nationality.

Similar to the UK, you'll either have to be a US citizen or willing to give up your citizenship. Alongside this, you'll have a lengthy security clearance process, which takes a holistic view of your life history as part of that, and assesses your suitability to view said information on that basis. So long as you're not closely related to trouble, and it's clear that you don't have ulterior motives, life is good

How do they do that?

Interviews, family trees, speaking to people you work, study, socialise with, family, financial history, criminal records check, health assessment, drugs tests, medical history, public profile, etc. DV for top secret and above process takes 6-9 months.

Lots of talk today about NASA pumping money into fusion engine research as such engines now look viable within the next 10 years. 30 days to get to Mars. One area of study to concentrate on then.

Given that the earliest timescale for fusion power to be commercial is in the 2040's, i'm very skeptical that they could do it so quickly.

Lots of talk today about NASA pumping money into fusion engine research as such engines now look viable within the next 10 years. 30 days to get to Mars. One area of study to concentrate on then.