Help Wanted: Astronauts
By: Jane Wells | CNBC Reporter
Looking for a job?
Got a college degree and 20/20 eyesight?
Call NASA.
The space agency is putting out the help wanted sign...for astronauts.
Wait.
We have to advertise for this?
Have we lost our creative mojo? Our ability to dream? Or is this an attempt to draw the Neil Armstrongs of the future away from working in the private sector for SpaceX or Virgin Galactic?
"The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has a need for Astronaut Candidates to support the International Space Station (ISS) Program and future deep space exploration activities."
I dunno. The ISS sounds kinda boring, and I may have to wait until I have grandkids before NASA has the money and political support to explore deep space.
Still, check out the online application! Salaries are up to $141,715! To qualify, you need a bachelor's degree (nursing doesn't count), and your blood pressure can't exceed 140/90 measured in a sitting position. You also have to be between 5'2" and 6'3". Warning, "frequent travel may be required." So far, so good. I qualify.
To make the offer even more seductive, NASA has made a video pitch. "We are NOT ending human space flight," says the narrator to the cool, jazzy sounds similar to A Charlie Brown Christmas.
Hmmm. Not really getting the juices going.
Maybe NASA should just post "The Right Stuff". That inspires. That was when America thought big and overdelivered. The space agency could do worse than using a famous line from the movie as its slogan: "Sounds dangerous...count me in".
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