How to Become an Astronaut Without Going to Space

I always wanted to be an astronaut. My dad worked for NASA as an engineer when I was 10 years old, and from then on, I was hooked. Like every other little kid, I was fascinated with the endlessness of space and the possibility of life on other planets. Watching movies that had references to space like Toy Story and Star Wars left me dreaming for weeks. In second grade, I took this a step further and began to learn everything I could about rockets, airplanes and propulsion systems. I even designed a hover board for my town’s Invention Convention and won an award.

Gazing at the sky with friends during the day. pc @jinheeleee

To me, space represented the future. It inspired and excited me, and I wanted to share these feelings with others. One of my favorite activities in high school was going out with my friends to lay in the grass and watch the clouds and stars. In fact, in my MIT application I wrote about stargazing as the activity that I do for fun. Stargazing was enjoyable, relaxing and inspiring all at the same time. In my application, I also wrote about wanting to be part of the team that achieves human exploration on Mars. Thankfully my essays and activities resonated with my application readers; I was blessed to be admitted into my top choice school to pursue my astronaut dreams as part of the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics. However when I got to MIT, this dream seemed to quickly fall apart.

As a wide-eyed freshmen at MIT, I became interested in a lot of different subject areas. Each person I met had their own contagious set of passions and work ethic. I was curious and very open to other classmates’ interests, ideas and thoughts. Additionally there were many opportunities to participate in other disciplines.

The first semester at MIT is PNR (Pass No Record), which means that all classes are graded on Pass/Fail except if you fail it does not appear on your transcript.

There were clubs for everything — ranging from PokerBots to Design-Build-Fly. Each discipline had its allures, and I became interested in computer science and mechanical engineering in addition to aerospace engineering. Because of the institution’s flexibility, opportunities and prevalent passion, I found myself imbibing in the metaphorical MIT firehose which meant that I was trying more new things than I could handle.

Firehose/water fountain in MIT Stata Center. Major🔑.

I took classes in Mechanical Engineering like Toy Product Design (2.00B) where students were charged with ideating, designing, building, testing and presenting a toy designed for children. It was extremely rewarding, but I wanted to try something else. I took courses like 6.01 in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, the most popular department at MIT, and I learned a great deal in a range of new disciplines. Still, I was left desiring more. Although I wasn’t as interested in space anymore, I continued to dream of the future and its wonders. As a result, I decided to declare my major as Aerospace Engineering as the best way to combine my interests in MechE and EECS and my dreams for the future.

After four grueling years, I graduated from MIT. I still have not been to space, I do not want help explore Mars, and I care more about things on Earth than in space. However if I had to go back in time to freshmen year, I would make the same choice to pursue the path of an astronaut. I know this is bizarre. Despite everything, I am still an astronaut. I’m really a metaphorical astronaut; although I am not going to space anytime soon, the key motivations that attracted me to the subject completely define my life.

The main motivation that captivated me through my entire MIT career was the chance to inspire everyday people and show how technology can affect them. I am someone who strives to design for the human, particularly to make their day-to-day lives easier. I want to share the excitement and passion that technology imparted on me with my family, my friends and beyond. The best way that I can think of to achieve this is not to work at a large space contractor like NASA, but rather to venture out and create something new.

I am an astropreneur. I’m exploring new frontiers in a barren environment with a few others that also chose to embark on this desolate yet exciting mission. We are building a rocket with breakthrough technologies, and we will be the ones to test whether our engines will actually hold. The launchpad is our friends, our family, our education and our resolve. Stage one of the mission is the first milestone. Only after that will we worry about the remaining mission. This is the challenge that we have set for ourselves, and it is the challenge of Fireflies.ai. As Matt Damon eloquently said in MIT’s commencement address of 2016:

Ready player one. Your game begins: now.

Matt Damon Gives Hilarious Commencement Speech (today.com)