Also called: Research Pilot, High-Altitude Research Pilot
Flies research airplanes like NASA's ER-2 to the edge of space and into hurricanes to collect science data.
You suit up in a pressure suit like an astronaut, fly to 70,000 feet over a wildfire, and hold steady lines so instruments can map the smoke. Missions can take you from the Arctic to the tropics in the same year.
Federal pay scale.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 12 years after high school. Bachelor's degree plus thousands of hours, usually as a military test pilot.
Ways in: Military, 4-year college. Training cost: Get paid while you train.
Majors to look at: Aerospace Engineering, Physics.
Growing about average. Only a handful of jobs.
Low risk for 10 years. High-altitude drones do some science flights, but NASA's crewed research planes still need elite pilots.
Classes: AP Physics, AP Calculus, Earth science, JROTC.
Official data: O*NET occupation 53-2011.
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.