Astronauts in Japan no longer have to be rocket scientists. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) no longer requires prospective astronauts to have educational backgrounds and work experience in scientific-related fields. By dropping this requirement JAXA hopes to recruit more diverse crews. Other requirements that have been dropped are having to weigh within a certain range and be able to swim.
The current requirements include being capable of working on an international team and showing leadership, in addition to being able to think flexibly and take appropriate actions to survive in extreme situations. Applicants must have three or more years of work experience, be between 149.5 cm and 190.5 cm tall, have corrected eyesight of at least 1.0 for both eyes and have normal color vision and hearing.
The last time JAXA recruited new astronauts was in 2009, when it received 963 applications. The recruitment period that ended this month brought in a record 4,127 applications. Nearly half of the applicants, 1,850, were in their 30's, followed by 973 in their 40's, and 811 under age 30. Sixty-nine applicants were 60 or older. The number of women applying came in at 919, which was 22.3 percent of the total.
Next month, JAXA will test applicants' English skills and general knowledge. Those who pass will go through three rounds of exams measuring their physical abilitites and presentation skills. The agency will chose a few prospective astronauts from the candidates by the end of March 2023 at the earliest.
Did you ever want to be an astronaut? What about now? It might be good to get away from all the chaos here on earth.
