Also called: Rover Planner, Mobility Engineer
Plans and commands every move a Mars rover makes, from a desk on Earth.
Each morning you look at 3D images of the terrain the rover sent overnight, plan a route around rocks with 3D glasses on, and send commands. Signals take up to 20 minutes, so you can't steer live like a video game. There are only a few dozen rover drivers ever.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 4 years after high school. Bachelor's in engineering or computer science plus years at NASA JPL or similar.
Ways in: 4-year college, Graduate school, On-the-job training. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Aerospace Engineering, Computer Science, Robotics.
Growing faster than average (about 6% over 10 years). Part of BLS aerospace engineers category; extremely few positions.
Low risk in 5 years, medium in 10. Rovers drive themselves more each mission; planning science moves and handling surprises stays human, with very few seats.
Classes: AP Physics, AP Computer Science, Earth science, Geometry.
Official data: O*NET occupation 17-2011.
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