Is a Career in Astrophysics the Path to NASA?

[Cbray]

Hi, I'm a fourteen year old kid, currently studying mathematics at ANU (Australian National University every Friday after school) and in Year 9 doing Mathematics advanced extended. We don't do physics at high-school yet (late Year 9 - 10), but I heard it is basic. I do physics as a hobby at home, currently reading 'A Brief History of Time' by Stephen Hawking, and do khan academy study on physics including motion, projectile motion, magnetism and others.

I'm thinking of researching about infinity, dark matter or dark energy as my personal project at the end of this year. Is this a good idea or to out there?

I want to do Double specialist mathematics in college, along with my continuation of ANU study, chemistry, physics, and English.

I want to go to ANU for under grad work, then go to Cambridge University for post-grad work, get a PhD in physics, masters in physics and others that I will be interested in doing. Is there any specific degrees I will need for NASA?

After I want to work as an astrophysicist or astronomer at NASA.

Am I looking at the right track to be able to make NASA, or do I need to try harder?

Thanks so much,
Charles.

 

[phinds]

I'm thinking of researching about infinity, dark matter or dark energy as my personal project at the end of this year. Is this a good idea or to out there?

Your ambition is admirable but there are a TON of folks out there already studying these and they all have the basics well under their belt. You might find it more profitable to just dig in and learn a lot more basic physics and get ahead of the curve that way. The odds of that being helpful to your ambition are great, whereas the odds of discovering something new about the topics you mention is very low (if you DID, the of course, it would put you on the fast track for sure).

 

[Cbray]

Your ambition is admirable but there are a TON of folks out there already studying these and they all have the basics well under their belt. You might find it more profitable to just dig in and learn a lot more basic physics and get ahead of the curve that way. The odds of that being helpful to your ambition are great, whereas the odds of discovering something new about the topics you mention is very low (if you DID, the of course, it would put you on the fast track for sure).

Thanks :)
I don't mean discovering tho, just studying/researching what has already been discovered of the topics, but thanks for your comment :)

 

[eri]

When it comes to getting a job at NASA, you'd have a few choices. You can apply for their official postdoctoral program after finishing your PhD; it's harder for foreigners to get than US citizens, but still possible. That's 2-3 years, then you'd go get another job. Or you can apply as a civil servant for a more permanent position (you still need to raise all of your salary in grant money) but it's harder to get that job as a foreigner - basically, before they can hire you, they need to make the case that no one in the US could do what you're going to do. So you need to be either very famous or very specialized and useful. Or become a US citizen, in which case you'd have a better chance. But NASA doesn't hire all that many research scientists compared to colleges.

 

[Angry Citizen]

Thanks :)
I don't mean discovering tho, just studying/researching what has already been discovered of the topics, but thanks for your comment :)

Well, though you're clearly intelligent, I don't think you have the knowledge base to study these subjects with any depth at present. I would echo the sentiment that you should study the basics thoroughly. Maybe buy a junior level classical mechanics book and chew through it. That'd be quite an accomplishment in and of itself!

 

[Cbray]

When it comes to getting a job at NASA, you'd have a few choices. You can apply for their official postdoctoral program after finishing your PhD; it's harder for foreigners to get than US citizens, but still possible. That's 2-3 years, then you'd go get another job. Or you can apply as a civil servant for a more permanent position (you still need to raise all of your salary in grant money) but it's harder to get that job as a foreigner - basically, before they can hire you, they need to make the case that no one in the US could do what you're going to do. So you need to be either very famous or very specialized and useful. Or become a US citizen, in which case you'd have a better chance. But NASA doesn't hire all that many research scientists compared to colleges.

Thanks for the feedback, I would obviously turn to American citizenship if it allowed me to have a career there - But I might do research for universities if I don't end up making it.
Don't think I'm an high IQ boy, I just enjoy mathematics and physics, I just study my best and I find it a bit easier to understand somethings as others. So I'm not going to be the best of the best, but I'm hoping to still be a hard worker when I'm older :)

 

[Saladsamurai]

Hi Cbray

I would suggest looking into getting an internship at NASA. This can be done while in college or even high school. Check out this website:

http://intern.nasa.gov/

Getting a foot in the door early cannot hurt your chances.

 

[eri]

That's true; NASA does have internships for high school students, college students, and graduate students. Again, some of them require citizenship. But there were a few high school students from Germany working here last summer (Goddard). Not sure how they found them, but they spent the summer here helping build an instrument.

My advice is to not think of teaching or working at a university as a back-up job. Those are the most popular jobs for PhDs - everyone wants that job, even if it doesn't pay as well as NASA, and they are much harder to get.

 

[Simfish]

basically, before they can hire you, they need to make the case that no one in the US could do what you're going to do

My impression is that this actually isn't as difficult as it sounds.

In fact, if you're *interdisciplinary*, you might get in that position without much trouble. I'm currently in the position of contacting numerous planetary scientists/astrobiologists (many of whom have worked for NASA Ames) about graduate school and what they had was interdisciplinary knowledge in a field that space scientists normally don't have (combined with the knowledge that space scientists normally have, of course)

But few people seem willing to go out and pursue multiple fields, for some reason.

 

[eri]

I am basing this on what I heard from a top NASA scientist and administrator in a meeting for how NASA postdocs could be hired on permanently. And that's what he said - you need to convince them that no one else can do what you do. That's not to say there aren't non-US citizens as civil servants, but there aren't many of them.

 

[twofish-quant]

Am I looking at the right track to be able to make NASA, or do I need to try harder?

One thing that you should do is to keep your options flexible. One thing is that you don't have a good idea of what the jobs are like, and things can change a lot while you are learning things.

NASA hires some astrophysicists, but most astrophysicists in the US that are working on space missions are actually working under some national lab or university that has a contract from NASA. So it's probably better for you to say "I want to work on space probes" rather than "I want to work for NASA."

The other thing is that if you are interested in having an active space program, you should probably get involved in space policy now. What NASA is going to be like in 2020 will depend on budget and political decisions made today.

 

[Simfish]

NASA hires some astrophysicists, but most astrophysicists in the US that are working on space missions are actually working under some national lab or university that has a contract from NASA. So it's probably better for you to say "I want to work on space probes" rather than "I want to work for NASA."

Yes definitely. Might I add that NASA seems to hire more planetary scientists than astrophysicists. Of course, the vast majority of NASA employees are engineers rather than astrophysicists.

The other thing is that if you are interested in having an active space program, you should probably get involved in space policy now. What NASA is going to be like in 2020 will depend on budget and political decisions made today.

That's true. But I'm not sure if it's a bad thing if NASA delegates most of its responsibilities to private contractors (which is what Buzz Aldrin thinks is desirable).

 

[twofish-quant]

Yes definitely. Might I add that NASA seems to hire more planetary scientists than astrophysicists.

It gets complicated, because it gets complicated who is "hired" by NASA.

That's true. But I'm not sure if it's a bad thing if NASA delegates most of its responsibilities to private contractors (which is what Buzz Aldrin thinks is desirable).

It's the way that it has always worked. Much of the science that NASA gets contracted to places like JPL.