RecordJob

Where an astronaut can go next

2 destinations recorded, ranked by how much of the target role an astronaut already meets. The closer to the top of Table 1, the less there is to learn.

Astronauts are crew members commanding spacecrafts for operations beyond low Earth orbit or higher than the regular altitude reached by commercial flights. They orbit the Earth in order to perform operations such as scientific research and experiments, launching or release of satellites, and building of space stations.

Also known as scientific cosmonaut, spacecraft pilot, science officer, shuttle commander, spacecraft crew member, pilot astronaut, commander astronaut, flight engineer, shuttle pilot, cosmonaut, space shuttle crew member, pilot cosmonaut.

Technicians and associate professionals 31 skills on file 2 career moves 0 above 60% overlap Closest: weather forecaster, 17%

Fig. 2 · Career map 2 nearest · ESCO v1.2.1

70% and above · short step
50 to 70% · real move
Below 50% · substantial retraining

The 2 nearest destinations from astronaut, each one a link to that move’s record. Distance from the centre is how much retraining the move takes; the figure on each is how much of that role an astronaut already covers. All 2 are listed in the tables below.

Table 1

Table 1 · A bigger jump

Possible, but expect real retraining rather than a sideways step. Only 2 moves are listed. Few other occupations share enough of this job's skills for a fair comparison, and jobs that share almost all of them are left out as the same work under another name.

Table 2

Table 2 · What the job itself asks for

An astronaut needs 18 required skills and areas of knowledge. These 10 are the ones fewest other jobs share, so they say the most about the work.

Required skill Area

perform scientific experiments in space working with machinery and specialised equipment
interpret graphical communication interfaces information skills
perform gravity measurements information skills
launching of satellites into orbit natural sciences, mathematics and statistics
types of satellites natural sciences, mathematics and statistics
conduct research on climate processes information skills
global navigation satellite system performance parameters natural sciences, mathematics and statistics
geostationary satellites natural sciences, mathematics and statistics
collect data using GPS information skills
collect geological data information skills

Index

Look up another occupation

Astronaut is filed under Technicians and associate professionals, ISCO major group 3. The full index lists all ten groups.

Note

How these figures were compiled

Overlap is how much of the target role is already part of an astronaut’s work. It is directional: the figure for the reverse move differs. Every entry above opens the full comparison for that move: what carries over, what is missing, and where to start. The full method.