To be considered for the NASA's astronaut program today, you need to have an advanced degree in science, engineering, medicine, or some other discipline that would be useful for the research done in space. That wasn't the case at all when Russia and the United States first stepped into space. The story of how the qualifications have changed over time is the story of how far we've come in space exploration. At first, the main requirement was bravery and public relations potential.
In the 1950s, when the U.S. and Russian space programs vetted candidates, they just needed individuals who could endure the flights. Little was known then about how the human body would respond to space. NASA’s initial call for astronaut applications included virtually any man shorter than 5’11” who had engaged in dangerous and physically strenuous activities, such as scuba diving or mountaineering. But President Dwight Eisenhower intervened, deciding that only military test pilots would be eligible.
“As a military man, Eisenhower had a great understanding and respect for the process of evaluation and promotion in the military,” says Margaret Weitekamp, chair of the space history department at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum. Military officers were presumed to be disciplined, loyal to the country, and willing to sacrifice their lives if necessary. And a test pilot already had proven the unique ability “to go up in a hurtling piece of machinery and put his hide on the line and then have the moxie, the reflexes, the experience, the coolness, to pull it back in the last yawning moment,” as Tom Wolfe wrote in his 1979 book The Right Stuff.
The Russians had somewhat different requirements for cosmonauts, yet they had to be brave to be flung into the unknown -and also have public relations potential. Now space is a workplace, but as we venture beyond the bounds of earth, the requirements for space travelers is liable to combine all the qualifications of the early days and the present. Read the evolution of "the right stuff" required for space explorations at National Geographic. -via Digg
(Image credit: NASA)
