Table of Contents

About the Authors

Foreword by Buzz Aldrin

Chapter 1: Introduction

(Short answers to commonly asked questions)

Chapter 2: What Is the Space Industry?

(Activities that make up the space industry)

Chapter 3: History

(Only by understanding the past can one understand the present)

Chapter 4: Inside the Space Economy

•   The National Aeronautics and Space Administration

•   Other Civil Space Organizations

•   Applying to Work at NASA and the Federal Government

•   The U.S. Military Space Sector

•   The Academic Sector

•   The Commercial Space Sector

Chapter 5: Choosing the Space Career for You

(Understanding satellites, rockets, ground operations, satellite services, remote sensing, GPS, microgravity, space science, and non-technical positions)

Chapter 6: Colleges and Universities

•   Financing your Education

•   Scholarships and Fellowships

•   Enhancing Your Education: Getting Real-World Experience

•   Accredited Aerospace Degree Programs

Chapter 7: Finding a Job for the First Time…Or the Not-So-First Time

(How to identify the employment opportunities that are out there)

Chapter 8: Networking: Your Key to Success

•   Questions to Ask

•   Identifying Networking Opportunities

Chapter 9: A Foot in the Door…Now What?

(Advice from Lockheed Martin’s Marillyn Hewson)

•   Three reasons I’d look twice at your résumé

•   Why I’d hire you. My top five interview questions

Chapter 10: Becoming an Astronaut: The Right Stuff

Appendix A: Key Space Terms and Acronyms

Appendix B: North American Companies and Institutions

Appendix C: Canadian Government, Associations, and Universities

Appendix D: Universities Offering Astronomy and Astrophysics Degrees

Appendix E: Profiles and Advice From Some Industry Leaders

•   Debra Facktor Lepore, VP/GM Strategic Operations

•   Dino Lorenzini, Satellite Engineer

•   Dan Durda, Principal Scientist

•   Jason Townsend, Deputy Social Media Manager

•   Kobie Boykins, Principal Mechanical Engineer

•   Charles Bolden Jr, NASA Administrator

•   Elizabeth Silbolboro Mezzacappa, Psychological Researcher

•   Paul Fried, Space Systems Engineer

•   Max Stolack, Project Engineer, Rocket Engines