Dilvir Dhaliwal

Pilot astronauts serve as both Space Shuttle and International Space Station commanders and pilots. During flight, the commander has responsibility for the vehicle, crew, mission success and safety of flight. The pilot assists the commander in controlling and operating the vehicle. As well as the pilot may assist in the deployment and retrieval of satellites utilizing the remote manipulator system, in extravehicular activities, and in other payload operations.

 The education needed to become a pilot or commander astronaut includes:  1. Bachelor's degree from an accredited institution in engineering, biological science, physical science, or mathematics. An advanced degree is desirable. Quality of academic preparation is important.  2. At least 1,000 hours pilot-in-command time in jet aircraft. Flight test experience is highly desirable.  3. Ability to pass a NASA space physical which is similar to a military or civilian flight physical and includes the following specific standards: Distant visual acuity: 20/100 or better uncorrected, correctable to 20/20 each eye. Blood pressure: 140/90 measured in a sitting position. Height between 62 and 75 inches.

 Maintain an acute level of physical fitness  Consider training with the military  Make sure you meet all physical and educational criteria  Plan to spend two years in NASA's intensive training program  Only a select few are actually able to become and astronaut, so completing the long, arduous training to become an astronaut may not even guarantee that you earn the position you seek, so it is important to have a backup career plan There are no university representatives that come to schools and tell students about the perquisites for “astronaut school,” this is because there are none. The astronaut field is very limited to the people they accept for the job and it involves vigorous training. This job is not advertised much and most people do not know the level of difficulty and the extremely high expectations from NASA.

 Salaries for civilian Astronaut Candidates are based on the Federal Government's General Schedule pay scale for grades GS-12 through GS- 13. Each person's grade is determined according to his/her academic achievements and experience.  Currently, a GS-12 starts at $65,140 per year and a GS-13 can earn up to $100,701 per year.  Astronauts receive excellent benefits, including medical coverage, paid vacation, tuition reimbursement, pension savings account, and potentially even more.

 The astronaut field is a very competitive and difficult one to be hired into but once you’re in the field there are is a great chance of career advancement and stability.  The best way to get hired initially is to show great promise in a related field  Once astronauts are selected to work as part of a crew, that experience becomes quite valuable in getting hired and selected for further missions with increased responsibility.

 Due to wars the reliability and advancement of electronic communication systems and computerised equipment is because of space research.  The first integrated circuits flew to the moon on Apollo and communication with the Voyager probes from Neptune required excellent radio and computer technology to decode such tiny signals lost in the mush. The computer modem and mobile phone communications are a direct descendent.  Space research as well as exploration is all made possible by technology. As technology grows so does our knowledge of the universe.

 By learning more about space research we also expand our knowledge in other fields such as propulsion, mechanics and energy (to name a few). Expanding our knowledge of these things results in easier/better/more useful developments here on this planet.  We learn more about the exact sciences (. chemistry, physics, biology). Studying the contents of space gives us something to compare ourselves with and allows us to draw conclusions on a universal level. For instance, if we find life elsewhere and it has DNA, we can theorize that DNA is an absolutely necessary component of life.  Space research creates thousands of jobs  It costs billions of dollars every year to fund the projects of space science, but it's comparatively small compared to the U.S. budget. In 2005, the NASA budget was something like $13 billion. This years defense budget was somewhere around $513 billion.

 Space shuttle fuel consumed in a launch: 3.5 million pounds  Gasoline consumed in one day in the US: 2,500 million pounds  Meaning that one space shuttle launch is equivalent to about two minutes of gasoline consumption in the United States.  We will eventually, after we're through with Earth need to leave this planet in search of "greener pastures." We have to study space to develop the technology to do so.

 10: Lightweight If you put Saturn In water it would float  9. Constantly Moving We are moving through space at the rate of 530km a second

 8. Farewell old friend! The moon is drifting away from Earth by 3.8 cm every year.  7. Ancient Light The light hitting the earth right now is 30 thousand years old.

 6. Solar Diet The Sun loses up to a billion kilograms a second due to solar winds  5. The Big Dipper is not a constellation The Big Dipper is not a constellation, it is an asterism

 4. George’s Star Uranus was originally called George’s Star  3. Extra Moons Earth has at least 4 moons

 2. Sunspot Music Sunspot activity may be the primary reason for the beautiful sound of Stradivarius violins  1. Cold Welding If two pieces of metal touch in space, they become permanently stuck together

 "Top 10 Cool Facts About Space - Top 10 Lists | Listverse." Top 10 Lists - Listverse. Web. 10 Oct  "Yahoo! Canada Answers - What Are the Pros and Cons of Space Research?" Yahoo! Canada Answers - Home. Web. 10 Oct  "Astronauts | Career | Education | Pilot | Commander | Mission Specialist | NASA | Space Shuttle | Flight - Page 1." Kids Chat | Teen Chat | Free Online Kids Games | Kids Website | Kidzworld.com. Web. 10 Oct  "Space Exploration." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 10 Oct  "Re: How Much Pollution Does Each Space Launch Produce?" MadSciNet: The 24-hour Exploding Laboratory. Web. 10 Oct  "Student Features." NASA. Ed. Shelley Canright. 29 Jan Web. 8 Oct