Astronaut
Shae Gustafson - 2nd hr. Science
Career Overview
Helpful Classes
Good classes to take in high school are: Calculus, Chemistry, Physics, Statistics and Probability, and Trigonometry/Advanced Algebra
As far as college, I would need: Cosmology, Methods of Theoretical Physics, Particles and Motion, Physics with Calculus, Solar System Anatomy, Stellar and Galactic Astronomy, Theoretical Mechanics
Education and Living Cost
Grand total (living and education cost): $199,100
Four years at University of Arizona: $161,284
Housing for time in college (dorm): $21,600
Food/Groceries for time in college: $10,800
Gas money for traveling/helping pay for carpool: $2,700
Clothing money for time in college: $4,000
Total tuition for time in college (4 years): $160,000
• Many people will need to apply for loans or a scholarship because it is difficult to save up the full amount that college costs.
• It is a good idea to get a job and work full hours in the summer so you can try to keep up with the payments. Getting a job during the school year and working at night would be helpful too, but not everyone has time for that.
• I might want to be an astronaut because my favorite thing to learn about is space and astronomy and I am very interested in it! The only reason I wouldn't want this job is because all the movies I've seen about astronauts, they haven't had a safe trip up to space, in space they had problems, and on the way back to Earth was dangerous. So I wouldn't risk my life for that, but otherwise it would be a very cool and fun job!
Organizations for this Career
Airplane Pilot Training: https://wiscareers.wisc.edu/C_CVstuff/MilInfo.asp?Num=MI340600
Space Operations Officer: https://wiscareers.wisc.edu/C_CVstuff/MilInfo.asp?Num=MI182400
Astronaut Pros & Cons
Work eight hours a day.
Pays well ($128,140 per year).
You get to do things that most people will never do in their lives like go in space!
Cons-
Required to complete an exhaustive year of training.
Most job sites are in Texas and Florida, so you would have to move.