Take yourself back to 1995, when the entire world was in the grip of Apollo 13 fever. Everyone was fixating on Ron Howard‘s film about the 1970 NASA mission to the moon that had to be aborted due to an oxygen tank explosion—and the astronauts that needed help getting back home. Remember when Tom Hanks’ Commander Jim Lovell says “Houston, we have a problem,” and Ed Harris and all the other people at Mission Control had to work together to figure out a way save them? Well, now you can be Houston. In that scenario, you could be the one what gets told there’s a problem.
NASA is now looking to hire new mission control flight directors for the famed Johnson Space Center in Houston, meaning it’s not out of the realm of possibility that you could one day sit in that huge room full of computer monitors and stuff. According to Fast Company, if chosen, you could head human spaceflight missions to the International Space Station, as well as Orion missions to the Moon–and maybe even Mars.
“Flight directors play a critical role in the success of our nation’s human spaceflight missions,” said NASA’s director of flight operations at Johnson, Brian Kelly. “The job is tough, the responsibilities are immense, and the challenges can seem insurmountable. But the experiences and personal rewards are incredible.”
Before you start redoing your resume, you’ll need to make sure you meet certain requirements, namely degrees in biological science, engineering, computer science, mathematics, or physical science. So I guess my theatre studies degree with a minor in film theory probably don’t fit the bill. You also need to have some kind of experience in super tense jobs, “including time-critical decision-making experience in high-stress, high-risk environments.” And if you’ve been a NASA flight controller in that past, that’s a plus but not a requirement. (Oh, thank you for that tiny glimmer of hope.)
If you are a U.S. citizen and all that other stuff applies to you, then you might be just who NASA is looking for. You have until April 17 to apply (you can do that here) and you could be the next Gene Kranz!
Images: Universal
Kyle Anderson is the Associate Editor for Nerdist. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Twitter!
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