Careers in Space

Reaching Mars is often imagined as a story about astronauts, but the people who set foot on the planet will be the smallest part of the workforce that gets them there. For every explorer on the surface, thousands of specialists on Earth will have designed the spacecraft, planned the mission, grown the food systems, engineered the life support, and safeguarded the crew's health. A human presence on Mars is one of the most complex collaborative undertakings our species has ever attempted, and it needs an extraordinary range of talent.

The careers below span that range. Some are obvious — aerospace engineers who build the vehicles, planetary geologists who read the Martian rock record, roboticists who design the machines that scout ahead of humans. Others are less expected but no less essential: agriculturalists who will figure out how to grow food in sealed habitats, physicians who specialize in the effects of radiation and low gravity on the body, and psychologists who study how the human mind copes with isolation and confinement.

Each profile below outlines what the role involves, the education it typically requires, and why it matters to the goal of reaching and settling Mars. Whatever your aptitude — engineering, life sciences, medicine, agriculture, or something else entirely — there is very likely a path from it to the Red Planet. To explore how to prepare for these roles, see the education paths and schools and programs that lead into them.