Bad news: You're probably not going to get the job.
With NASA planning future space missions to Mars and new launches from US soil, the space agency has announced it will begin the search for new astronauts from 14 December - but you're going to need more skills than Homer Simpson.
"Astronaut candidates must have earned a bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution in engineering, biological science, physical science or mathematics. An advanced degree is desirable."
A BSc in biology? No trouble!
"Candidates also must have at least three years of related, progressively responsible professional experience..."
Right... that could be tricky...
"...or at least 1,000 hours of pilot-in-command time in jet aircraft. Astronaut candidates must pass the NASA long-duration spaceflight physical."
And you have to be American.
Dream over.
The lucky few will be flying to the International Space Station, the Orion deep-space exploration vehicle or selected to work on two vehicles that are currently in development.
The last time NASA went looking for astronauts, they received some 6,372 applicants, with an application success rate of 0.17 percent.
Looks like we'll be stuck dreaming about visiting the stars for a while to come.
