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Space Careers
Welcome to the space careers module of Civil Air Patrol's Aerospace and Related Careers program. It was designed to expose CAP members to possible career paths/opportunities they might not be aware of. This Space Related Careers training module should be viewed as a follow on program to CAP’s Aerospace Dimensions, and Aerospace: The Journey of Flight, Chapter 17, Aerospace Careers and Training.
Introduction
The Space industry is actually a very broad and diverse field, involving participants ranging from a variety of science and engineering streams, to farming, manufacturing, and computer technology. One could even say that the space industry is really a combination of these fields.
In considering a career in space, the first thing you should be aware of is that the majority of careers take place here on the ground; only a relatively small number of people actually get the opportunity to leave the Earth for the limitless boundaries of space. You should also keep in mind, however, that for each astronaut who makes it to space, there is literally thousands of support people on the ground without whose skills, knowledge and efforts, the mission would not have been possible.
No single company builds a complete flight vehicle. A production program is organized as a team of specialized manufacturers, and each contributes individual parts, components, systems and subsystems. These eventually come together at the plant of the team leader, known as the prime contractor or systems integrator, to be assembled into an end product - aircraft, missiles or spacecraft that has hundreds of assemblies and products.
Since you were little, you have probably associated space careers with astronauts, walking on the moon, Neil Armstrong, and space shuttles. Those certainly make a lasting impression, but you should probably know two things, if nothing else: first, not every space career involves hopping around in a big spacesuit, and second, there are lots of opportunities available for exciting space careers today. The following list of possible careers in the aerospace field is by no means exhaustive, but it gives an idea of the wide variety of things you can do and still be related to space. Take a look. It might change your life. You will be surprised to find the astronaut at the bottom under “other things”. For ever astronaut, there are tens of thousands of aerospace workers supporting him/her.
Research Science
- Astronomer
- Galactic
- Planetary
- Radio
- Biologist
- Chemist
- Geologist
- Physicist
- Astrophysicist
- Oceanographer
- Space Scientist
Engineering
- Aeronautical
- Aerospace
- Rockets
- Space Station
- Chemical
- Computer
- Electrical
- Fire Protection
- Materials
- Mechanical
- Nuclear
- Plastics
- Robotics
- Safety
- Software
- Test
- Systems
Mathematics
- Computer Scientist
- Mathematician
- Systems Analyst
Other
- Astronaut
- Technical Writer
As you can see aerospace careers span nearly all the science fields and subjects you can think of. Explore in detail many of these exciting career fields by pushing the associated menu button and looking into a world you never dreamed of before. Future advances in knowledge, engineering, and products that we will use, as well as a better understanding of the world around us, comes from people just like you who take this initial step to look into the world of aerospace careers. This module will look at a few career fields, and you can investigate others that interest you.
Links to more information click below:
Air Force Space Command Fact Sheet
Courtesy: NASA and SpaceX.com
