I got another long email today from an Elizabeth Yager, who works for United Space Alliance, the main contractor for the Shuttle. She, like many, apparently completely missed my point. In addition, she, like many of my readers, fancies herself a deft psychoanalyst.

Bitter are we?

Well, no, not exactly.

Don't tell me that a kid can't do something just because the odds are slim.

All right. I won't tell you that. I haven't in the past, and I won't now.

If everyone thought that way, then we would have no astronauts, no doctors any of the other professions that require skills that go above and beyond what you learn in high school.

Yes, but even I don't think that way, so I don't understand your point.

Obviously you are going to have to have a background in science and technology to become an astronaut.

Well, if you mean to work for NASA, yes, that's the case, given the way they've rigged the deck. But all the word astronaut means is, literally, "space traveler." There is nothing inherent in that description that requires a background in science and technology, any more than it's required for one to be an "aeronaut" (that is, someone who rides in an airplane). And of course, I never proposed that anyone not learn science.

Just like you have to have some kind of athletic skills to be a NBA player.... each profession requires it's own skill, that's what makes it a profession. Would you want someone operating on you if they didn't have a medical degree?

Ummm...no, and you still seem to continue to miss the point, but I can understand how that might be the case, being steeped in the NASA "science uber alles, only Astronauts can go into space" culture.

I didn't think so, so would you honestly want to send up astronauts that aren't qualified in the fields they are going up to study? For instance, would you want the Commander or Pilot of a multi-million dollar vehicle to have no experience ever flying?? That's what I thought.

I'll be happy when she gets to the end of these strawmen, and things that I don't think, and didn't write.

I am proof that if you have a dream and you work hard at it, it can eventually come true. It does take time. Ever since I was ten years old, I've wanted to be an astronaut. And sure, when you're ten years old, everyone wants to be an astronaut. But how many people do you know still want to be an astronaut 14 years later? Not likely. How many people do you know that, regardless of their dream at ten, still have that dream when they are adults? It's rare and that's the kind of determination and sacrifice it takes to fulfill a dream of any kind. You have to want it and no matter how tough it gets, you endure and you make it happen. I'm from Louisville, Kentucky, originally, and in Kentucky there isn't much opportunity for space education. So I knew I would have to leave and go away to gain the education that would one day land me a job here at NASA... and yes that required science and math.

You're to be greatly admired for your determination and drive. I'm still waiting for you to write me something that was relevant to my column, though.

I work for a company called United Space Alliance, in Houston, TX. They are the primary space shuttle subcontractor for NASA. I analyze the shuttle's trajectory it takes in order to rendezvous with the station. I also work real-time support in Mission Control, figuring out contingency plans in case something goes wrong. I have a bachelor's degree in Engineering Physics and am currently working on a Masters of Engineering in Space Operations, as I work full time. It's a lot of hard work, but it's worth it because I know one day I will fly into space as an astronaut. If you don't put in the time and effort it takes to accomplish somthing, then you will never succeed at anything.

Yes, true, all true. I know many people at USA. Many of my former colleagues from Rockwell were transferred there when the company was formed, in a shotgun marriage presided over by Dan Goldin.

To respond to your NASA comment about budget and crew size......yes the astronaut canadate selection is small but if you have that tenacious drive that I've always had, then it can become a reality.

Of course it can. Who said otherwise? All I said was that the chances were very high that it wouldn't become a reality, no matter how good you were, because in addition to the tenacious drive, other factors are involved, including personality, and that there are many more people who are qualified than there are slots for them, because of NASA's approach, and the failure of our space policy. The fact remains that what we were told in the sixties in school--that there would be a great deal of activity in space in the seventies and eighties, and that there would be many opportunities for us to go--was simply a lie. That's my point.

They can't just let anyone become an astronaut, you have to have "the right stuff" (to quote one of the best movies ever) in order for that to happen. You have to be an expert in your field, a field that relates to space, whether it be medical, aerospace or flying.

Well, again, that's just to be a "NASA astronaut," not a space traveler. But even if you're an expert in your field, you're still unlikely to be able to go. Even if you pass NASA's extreme criteria and become an official "astronaut," you've still got a good chance at not going, because there are so few flight positions, due to the way that the program has been screwed up.

I mean, the reason NASA has a limited budget in the first place is because tax payers aren't willing to pay to send people up into space anymore. It's not exciting enough for them these days.

NASA's problem is not a limited budget. They've had many, many billions of dollars to spend over the years. The problem is in how they spend it. But even if their problem were purely one of insufficient money, it's not surprising, with attitudes like yours (e.g., The taxpayer should just give us money so we can go into space, even though we're not going to do a damn thing to help them get into space. Why can't these stupid taxpayers be satisfied with watching a few of us have fun up there on TV? Don't those ignorant peons understand how important it is that we send a few of our valuable "astronauts" around and around in a space station? Why don't they find that exciting? Damned luddites!)

But what they don't understand are all of the benefits (we use everyday) that have come from Human Space Exploration, such as scratch resistant lenses, athletic shoes, the dustbuster, trash compactors, golf clubs... just to name a few.

Pardon me, but that's nonsense. Do you really believe that we wouldn't have those things if we hadn't had a "space program"? Well, at least you didn't trot out the old myth about Teflon, which was invented in the 1930s...

I do agree that NASA should do a better job of educating the public on where their tax dollars are going, but that's another story for another time.

Well, the only thing that you seem to agree with is something that I didn't say. I don't believe that the problem isn't the messenger--or even the message. The public knows exactly what they're getting for their manned space dollars. They just don't think that it's necessarily worth the money. Frankly, neither do I, when I know we could be getting a lot more "space program," for a lot less.

So how can you expect private industry to front all this money for space colonization or exploration if the tax payers aren't willing to pay an extra $0.25 a year to help the government?

What kind of question is that? What does one have to do with the other? Can you describe the logic here?

But your article is obviously completely underlined with bitter hostility towards the space program, maybe because you didn't make it.

What do you mean, "I didn't make it"? I made it as much as you did. I worked for the largest NASA contractor, for many years, many of them as a manager and project manager. My hostility is toward those who make the space policy that confines us to little dreams, and insignificant, but extremely expensive, achievements.

And it's not at all "bitter." Life is too short for emotions like that. I am trying to get people to think about space in a different way, so that the next generation's dreams can be fulfilled.

And the only way you didn't make it is if you didn't want it enough.

Oh, that's utter nonsense. If there are ten people who "want it" enough, and only two flight slots, there are eight people who aren't going to fly, no matter how badly they "want it."

Because it is possible to have a dream, as small in odds as becoming an astronaut, and to make that dream a reality. And it can happen with any dream not just science/technology related ones. So don't you dare go telling kids out there that their dreams are not achievable just because the odds are less than that of becoming a garbage man! What are dreams if not possible realities for our future?

I never told anyone that. My criticism was not of kids for dreaming--it was of the political establishment that created a "space program" whose purpose was to create jobs in Houston and other places, instead of to fulfill kids' dreams.

What a sad letter that is. Clearly the woman has no idea how frontiers are opened. She seems to believe that no one except for government paid ubermenn should or ever will travel into space.

The horrible irony is that if NASA were to adopt an additude that it should assume the role of opening up the high frontier of space for the rest of us, it would get far more support and a bigger budget.

Although it's not normally interesting material to post a continuing email conversation, I would be very interested in hearing what this particular woman's response was to your comments (I'm assuming that you sent them to her as well as posting them on the site).

I second Matt Picioccio above

No, I sent her an email saying that I responded here. If she sends a follow-up, I'll post it, but I hope that she'll respond in this comments section.

One of these days it will dawn on her that her best chance at going to space will be to buy a ticket and go as a tourist and the ship that takes her definitely won't have a NASA logo on the side.

You rained on her parade! Your post made her realize that if she in fact _doesn't_ make it into those flight seats, she's wasted the best years of her life. (I say that because being an astronaut seems to be the pinnacle of her ambitions, from what she wrote.) Therefore she had to strike out at you. All those things you _didn't_ say? Those were _her_ own thoughts. Projection, that's the psychobabble word...

It sounds like she's thoroughly bought into the propaganda of what Jerry Pournelle calls 'the Astronaut Mafia.'

You won't get much construction work done in space and under budget if you only allow middle aged Ph.D's to turn wrenches instead of 25 year olds with the muscle and practical knowledge needed. I'm remind of the discussion on some other blogs of the virtues of vocational training and the ridiculous expectation that all attend college.

Perhaps someone can explain why it is that so many mid-to-low level people in large bureaucracies take it so personal when you criticize their organization? I've found the same sort of behavior in past dealings with the National Park Service when I've dared to publicly criticize cases of mismanagment or incompetence. The facts were of little importance, only that their beloved NPS wasn't getting the unquestioning respect that was automatically deserved by all outsiders.

Like the NPS types, she implies that her loyalty will be rewarded with goodies that are unobtainable by the masses, and the critics are motivated by base emotions like envy. NASA encourages that attitude by making access to space dependent on it, and punishing anyone who doesn't follow the party line. (Witness the reaction to Tito. How dare he not follow the One True Path to space!)

Ms. Yager is obviously a driven woman (by whom my twisted humor would ask?) If her attitude is common I would say taking about half of NASA's funding for x-prize competition starts to make a whole lot more sense.

I'm 14 years old, and want to be an astronaut. I just want to know what classes I should take in high school. I also want to know if there will be any job oppertunities at NASA when I am out of colledge in 2012? Someone please help me!!!
9I also want to know if I could get in with a 98% average.)