Also called: EDL Systems Engineer
Designs the 'seven minutes of terror' when a spacecraft plunges through an atmosphere and lands on another world or back on Earth.
You model parachutes, heat shields, and rocket landing burns, then run thousands of simulated landings on Mars or the ocean. Some days you are out in the desert dropping test parachutes from helicopters.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Master's degree, about 6 years after high school. Bachelor's in aerospace engineering; most have a master's or PhD.
Ways in: 4-year college, Graduate school. Training cost: $60k – $150k.
Majors to look at: Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering.
Growing faster than average (about 6% over 10 years). Part of BLS aerospace engineers category.
Low risk for 10 years. AI helps run millions of landing simulations; designing never-before-tried landings and testing hardware stay human.
Classes: AP Physics C, AP Calculus, AP Computer Science, Earth science.
Official data: O*NET occupation 17-2011.
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