Also called: NASA Astronaut, Mission Specialist
Flies to space to live on space stations, run experiments, do spacewalks, and soon, walk on the Moon.
On Earth, astronauts train for years: flying T-38 jets, practicing spacewalks underwater, learning Russian, and studying spacecraft systems. In orbit, a day is packed with science experiments, repairs, exercise, and the occasional view of 16 sunrises.
NASA astronauts are paid on the federal GS-12 to GS-15 scale; military astronauts keep their military pay.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Master's degree, about 8 years after high school. Master's in STEM (or medical degree/test pilot school) plus 2+ years of related experience or 1,000 jet pilot hours.
Ways in: 4-year college, Graduate school, Military, Professional school. Training cost: $60k – $150k.
Majors to look at: Aerospace Engineering, Physics, Biology.
Growing slowly. Extremely competitive: NASA picked 10 of about 8,000 applicants in its 2025 class.
Low risk for 10 years. AI and robots take on more chores and science in space, but humans exploring the Moon and Mars is the whole point; jobs stay very rare.
Classes: AP Physics, AP Biology, AP Calculus, Physical education.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.