An "Out of this World" Prescription for Success - Words of Wisdom for a Budding Astronaut

I have a protégé who is serious about becoming an astronaut. Because of my strong belief in the power of networking, I offered to introduce Ben to Julianne Zimmerman – an amazing and delightful woman who spent fifteen years working in the manned space program. She was involved in a number of launches and missions – both in the U.S. and in Russia. Since Julianne now works near the MIT campus in Cambridge, she offered to meet us in Kendall Square to talk about how to think about preparing to be an astronaut. In additional to sharing her own considerable experience and wisdom on this topic, Julianne also offered to connect Ben to Brian Vanden Bosch, a colleague of hers and another veteran of the space program. Brian took time out from his trek through New Zealand to e-mail his thoughts.

As soon as I read the words that Brian had written, my first thought was: “This is not just about preparing to be an astronaut. This is a perfect prescription for developing as a Renaissance Man or Woman!” I wanted to be able to share Brian’s musings with the readers of this Blog, so I e-mailed Brian and asked his permission to share what he had written with a broader audience than he had anticipated addressing. Brian graciously granted his permission for me to share his words:


Be a good citizen.

Keep it in your peripheral vision; if you focus directly onto it the fuzzier it gets. There are a hundred ways to do it (how many astronauts have there been?). You can try and correlate the things on the surface - who went to MIT, or who was a Navy test pilot, or who is a HAM radio operator, or who has a pilot's license, but that's an indirect reflection of the type of people that get called in. Aren't they all unique?

If you get called you will use every skill you ever had to accumulate. So accumulate a lot and be resourceful. Whether it is from volunteer work that ties you into the local community, creative outlets that tie you into a creative community. . .

. . . be expressive and presentable so that you can be a public figure. . .

. . . go solo and rugged at times to tie you into an adventurous community. . .

. . . show teamwork and leadership that ties you into a professional community.

. . . skills and focus that tie you into an industry. . .

. . .demonstrate a disciplined and methodical flexible approach that shows you can be trained and demonstrate where you've been innovative beyond the training. . .

. . . show that you can handle singular focus for long spells as well as remaining broad and balanced. . .

. . . speak another language and live abroad to show an international spirit. . .

. . . learn to work with your hands senses and mind. . .

. . . be observant and descriptive - more often than not you'll be an extended set of eyes, ears, hands and brains for a dozen other people at the other end of a comm link. . .

. . . find the best troubleshooter in the world to watch and learn everything you can from.

Each time that I re-read these words, I find something new to latch onto and to chew on. I encourage you to read them now, and come back and re-read them again in a few hours or days. May they inspire you to reach for the stars!

Al