Astronomy/Physics double major possible routes

[striker7770]

Hello,
I am currently a sophmore and a Physics-Astronomy double major at stony brook university. I am starting to really think about future jobs and internships, and I need a little career advice. Currently most of my professors are working on theoretical cosmology and astrophyiscs, supernovae and neutron stars. However I want to work a little closer to home, I want to help out with the space industry in the future, working with future space missions and a more practical side to astronomy.
Does anybody have any tips or ideas on how to go for this goal? Or a more concrete discription rather than saying "I want to work with NASA". I will be up for anything, as long as it deals with humanities interaction with space, not just observational astronomy.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

I think the future of space travel will be in the private sector. Look here for some companies you might want to contact.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_private_spaceflight_companies

 

[twofish-quant]

However I want to work a little closer to home, I want to help out with the space industry in the future, working with future space missions and a more practical side to astronomy.

Get very familiar with the politics of science and space flight. If there are any lunches or seminars in your department, attend them, and if you hear people talking about funding, listen very closely. Also, if you can convince someone to let you attend AAS, do it.

One thing that's on my TODO list is to convince scientists that manned space flight is a good thing.

Does anybody have any tips or ideas on how to go for this goal?

If you get a Ph.D. in astronomy or physics, you'll have a number of chances to get involved in this area.