Becoming Astronauts

whitestar · Post by **whitestar** » Thu Jul 25, 2002 7:26 pm

I don't really want to become an astronaut. I want to design and build small, cheap space vessels. That way, I can get to space without having to train to be an astronaut

Boomerang · Post by **Boomerang** » Thu Jul 25, 2002 8:28 pm

Well psychology is an intresting subject to study. And i get good grades in it plus i like working with people. Heck i know enough crazy people already to go into practice now.

soc1313cer · Post by **soc1313cer** » Fri Jul 26, 2002 8:57 am

Ya you know all of us and we are all a little crazy in one way or another. Some people think we are nuts for just wanting to go into space. I don't understand those people. How could you not want to learn and see what's out there. Its all just so amazing to me. It would really be a dream come ture if I could go up.

Boomerang · Post by **Boomerang** » Fri Jul 26, 2002 11:33 am

Us crazy i can't see why anyone would think that. Definately not about us wanting to go to space. We always need explorers i mean where would we be without Columbus or Magellan, or Glenn or Sheppard or Armstrong. We certainly wouldnt know alot of what we know today and we might still be stuck on the european continent. Ofcourse they might think were crazy for spending so much time on the havb forum posting but thats another story.

FatMan · Post by **FatMan** » Fri Jul 26, 2002 1:08 pm

well my 2 life goals are to design a vehichle that goes faster than the speed of light and then test it. second i want to jump out of the the orbiter after it breaks the sound barrier and is about 20000-25000 feet high man thatd be a rush

Boomerang · Post by **Boomerang** » Fri Jul 26, 2002 1:35 pm

Well if your talking about jumping out of the shuttle orbiter good luck the chances of survivng that are slim to none.

EmilyLovesNASA · Post by **EmilyLovesNASA** » Mon Aug 12, 2002 4:50 pm

I definately want to become an astronaut. I'm not really scared about the work. I'm just scared about all the competition! I mean, most of the people who want to be astronauts are very determined! I agree that a lot of people think we're crazy for wanting to go into space. But it would also be a dream come true for me if I went into space!

EmilyLovesNASA · Post by **EmilyLovesNASA** » Mon Aug 12, 2002 4:53 pm

Oh yeah, and I've read horror stories about astronauts getting on the bad side of the guy who has the last say about choosing them, and then they never get to go up again! That also scares me!!

Boomerang · Post by **Boomerang** » Mon Aug 12, 2002 6:02 pm

Their have been a few instances of astronauts never flyig again because of what they did suring flights but its unusual. I know of only 2 examples Scott Carpenter who screwed up his mercury flight by not listening to instructions from ground control, he also got distracted and fired his retro rockets too late and came down hundreds of miles off course. He was lucky to survive reentry at all since he had no maneuvering fuel left except for the retro rockets. Its understandable why He never flew again/ The other example is the crew of Apollo 7. Actually it was more the fault of the flights commander Wally Schirra. After he suffered a head cold in space he became openly beligerant to the instructions he got from ground control. He disobeyed orders and didnt follow the flight plan. He would have been the only one to most likely be permanently grounded but he had already decided to retire so the other 2 crew members became scape goats and never flew again.

EmilyLovesNASA · Post by **EmilyLovesNASA** » Mon Aug 12, 2002 7:43 pm

I know of those, but I was talking about the head of the Astronaut Offices. I just read stories about him in the book Dragonfly, about never letting an astronaut fly again. I'm not sure how true the rumors are, but they exist anyway.

Boomerang · Post by **Boomerang** » Mon Aug 12, 2002 7:48 pm

Now having read dragonfly i remember them saying that about the russian cosmonauts and it is common practice in the russian space program and sometimes its for verry small things that arent even the crew's fault but i dont think its common in the US Space program.

EmilyLovesNASA · Post by **EmilyLovesNASA** » Tue Aug 13, 2002 4:21 pm

Yeah, but I was talking about George Abbey. He doesn't officially ground astronauts or anything like that, because he can't. He just doesn't pick them for a flight for the rest of their career. I think that it happened with Blaine Hammond, because he critisized the safety of Mir.

Boomerang · Post by **Boomerang** » Tue Aug 13, 2002 4:37 pm

Its possible but i doubt it and if it is true its not a common occurance.

EmilyLovesNASA · Post by **EmilyLovesNASA** » Fri Aug 16, 2002 7:25 pm

What about George Abbey, then?

Boomerang · Post by **Boomerang** » Fri Aug 16, 2002 7:43 pm

Well i dont know the whole story behind this. Criticising NASA has gotten astronauts introuble in the past so its possible. But also keep in mind that their are always 2 sides to every story. An astronaut may think he or she was kept from flying for one reason or another and it may verry well be the reason but their may be more behind it also. Also keep in mind their are alot of astronauts wanting to fly. I recently met a member of the class of 2000 who doesnt expect to fly for atleast 4 more years. He also said their are members of the astronaut class on 1996 who are still waiting to fly. So not getting assigned to another flight quickly doesnt nessecarily mean they will never fly again. Remember 7 flights were scheduled for this year 4 are scheduled for next year. Their are only so many spots to go around so it may be he just hasnt been selected for a flight that requires his skills, or maybe he did do something to tick someone off. If an astronaut ants a flight assignment getting on the head of the astronaut office's bad side isnt a good way to do it.

EmilyLovesNASA · Post by **EmilyLovesNASA** » Fri Aug 16, 2002 9:49 pm

Yes, I read about the astronaut who you met. But there have been many people who single George Abbey out. There are astronauts who think that they will never fly again, not just that they will fly far in the future. I think that in Dragonfly that they said George Abbey was forced out of his position as head as the astronaut office because of what he did, but he returned later because he got on someone's good side. Of course getting on the good side of the head of the astronaut office will help your chances of getting to fly, but that is what I'm partly afraid of. You shouldn't have to worry about who likes you and if you are making a good impression or not. You should just have to worry about your training and how well you are doing in it, because that is what being an astronaut is, not getting on the good side of your boss.

Boomerang · Post by **Boomerang** » Sat Aug 17, 2002 1:47 am

To a degree thats true. But it can be important to impress the right people as well. Remember their are probably more than 100 astronauts including payload specialist now and everyone has to compete to get noticed. Competition is always part of life. We may not like sucking up or having to try to get on someones goodside to acomplich something but sometimes its nessecary.

EmilyLovesNASA · Post by **EmilyLovesNASA** » Sat Aug 17, 2002 12:53 pm

That's awful! To think that you may have been chosen over another astronaut just because you got on the good side of the boss!

Post by **Vincent** » Sat Aug 17, 2002 1:13 pm

Well, it's not what you know, it's who you know, isn't it?!

Boomerang · Post by **Boomerang** » Sat Aug 17, 2002 1:32 pm

It may be awful but sometimes thats the way things work in any job not just the astronaut corps. But its not as much about getting on someones goodside as it is impressing the right people. Hopefully one day you will get picked to be an astronaut. Just do your job and try to excell as best you can at the job and most likely you wont have any problems.