Anonymous asked: Hey, I'm a student and I'd love to work for NASA as I'm older, any guidance/advice?!
Hello dear!
Ahhh! YAY! NASA is stellar! [har har]
Okay well I get dozens of asks about under-graduate students looking to go into many fields concerning anything from astronomy, astrophysics, physics, to chemistry. So the first thing I’d suggest doing is looking at these questions I’ve answered here, here, here, and here. [I’ll copy and paste some of the more general links below.] Each of them have self-education links as well as useful science/astronomy resources. If you also look at my Sources to Look Into page, there are literally dozens of different links to help educate yourself on all/any topics you could possibly be itching to explore.
As always, I’m a huge advocate for self-education, especially if you’re wishing to go into such an intense field [like the ones NASA offers within their program] so below I listed some sites, and lists of sites, I have come across that are great resources for FREE self-education. Even for beginners!
- Coursera
- A list of 500 FREE online courses
- A list of 400+ FREE online courses for Liberal Arts & Sciences
- Academic Earth
- Open Culture
- 12 More FREE online courses
- FreeScience - Website with 2000+ science books ready to download
- SpaceHack - A directory of ways to get involved and participate/study in space exploration.
- MinutePhysics- Short and sweet educational videos exploring physics and other related sciences.
- TED Talks- Videos concerning all types of issues in all fields, one of the best intellectual video content on the web. Use it to your advantage.
- Startalk Radio with Neil deGrasse Tyson
- The Skeptics Guide to the Universe
You can also explore my Resources tag, in which there are not only lists of free online courses, but books, textbooks, and interactive online-programs to get involved with.
Because you didn’t specify an area of expected employment within NASA, I’m not quite sure what you’re interested in when it comes to the details. So this is all general advice, if you’d like you could message me again, anon or not, and we can further our discussion based off of your particular interested field[s]. If not, I suggest just learn as much as possible about the things that do interest you. Also, just in case you’re not great at math does not mean you won’t be fantastic at science!! This is a very natural and common misconception people have.
I wish you the best of luck, and if you need any more help, my ask is always open!
