Ep. 228: From Midwest Gal to Astronaut: The Path to NASA

Guest: Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper, NASA astronaut

International Space Station Space Walker on how you become an astronaut?

It turns out there isn’t a straight line from here to outer space, but the good news is it doesn’t matter much where you start. What does matter is your desire to be exceptional at what you do – and what you do needs to be in line with the needs of the space program.

For example, let’s say you apply to study engineering at MIT – an education you couldn’t afford but thanks to a ROTC program, you can go to school, get your education and then join the Navy. Then let’s say you become a naval diver where your days are spent in an artificial breathing environment working on the hulls of ships.

Then one day, you learn that NASA needs dedicated people who can function comfortably in a spacesuit fixing the International Space Station. And before you know it, you are one of 12 out of 18,000 who applied for the job of astronaut who gets hired.

We invited NASA astronaut Captain Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper to join us for a Conversation That Matters about what going to space is like and why she wants her career in space to inspire young women to achieve their dreams.