Why are most astronauts fighter jet pilots in the Air Force?

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Is it fitness and transferable skills? Seems like it would be most advantageous to be some sort of scientist. With the likes of SpaceX making it all more automated, will the demographic of astronauts change?

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Anonymous 0 Comments

Fighter pilots check a lot of boxes in what NASA wants to see in an astronaut. Its also worth noting that most of these guys are not “just” fighter pilots. They also usually have STEM degrees too.

The “demographic” of astronauts will change as the volume of people to space increases and the missions changes. Less flight positions and more technical specialists or tourists. Still, I assume there will be a lot of former fighter pilots stepping foot on Mars for the first time.

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