The competition is tough and the standards are high. Applicants to become astronauts not only have to enjoy learning new things. They also have to be very well-organized and able to cope well with stress. This viewer question comes from Aya S. in Egypt.
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00:00Hello.
00:03How do you become an astronaut? What skills do you need?
00:07Welcome aboard the space station.
00:10They made it. Every four years, NASA selects new astronauts from among thousands of applicants.
00:16ESA does so even more rarely.
00:19To apply, you have to have a degree in medicine, the natural sciences, or engineering.
00:24You also need years of experience in the field or a lot of flight hours as a pilot.
00:30You don't have to be a top athlete to apply, but you do have to be fully mobile.
00:35Glasses or contact lenses are okay, as long as your corrected vision is considered perfect.
00:41You also have to be able to cope well with stress.
00:45The astronauts on board the International Space Station, the ISS, supervise experiments and keep the systems running.
00:56Good hand-eye coordination, a broad knowledge base, and a love of learning are all important.
01:03Work days in space are packed. To keep up, you have to be both organized and focused.
01:12Prospective astronauts have to complete core training that includes parabolic flights.
01:19These provide a taste of what it's like to work in a weightless environment.
01:24In more advanced sessions, trainees learn everything that they'll need to know on board the ISS,
01:31which includes practicing to take spacewalks.
01:35The training for this takes place in huge water tanks.
01:39The final phase involves training for a specific mission.
01:42Both a selected crew and replacement crew complete programs.
01:47Astronauts train all over the world and work together in international teams,
01:52so applicants should also have an aptitude for languages.
01:56And a background in geology now plays a bigger role.
02:00That'll be important when exploring the Moon and its resources.
02:04All of the major space-faring nations are making plans to visit our closest celestial neighbor.
02:12Some want to build stations in lunar orbit and on its surface,
02:16and more astronauts will be needed to realize these ambitious plans.
02:21So if your dream is to one day live and work in space,
02:25your chances today are better than they were 20 or 30 years ago.