NASA is hiring flight directors at Houston's Johnson Space Center
mission control
NASA has put out the virtual "now hiring" sign at Johnson Space Center. United States citizens have until Thursday, September 10, to apply for the position of flight director.
Now that American astronauts are once again launching off from American soil, NASA is amping up its flight director staff, according to a news release. Applications are open online for the flight director position, which oversees flights to the International Space Station from mission control at JSC.
"NASA flight directors need a unique mixture of confidence and humility, innovation and organization," says Holly Ridings, chief flight director at JSC, in the release. "The situations you have to deal with are occasionally very tough, and the stakes are always very high. But if you are able to handle that responsibility, there is nothing like knowing that you played a key role in the historic work that NASA does on a day-to-day basis."
Flight director candidates must be U.S. citizens and have a bachelor's degree from an accredited institution in engineering, biological science, physical science, computer science, or mathematics, per the release. Additionally, they also will need related experience — more details are available online.
The selected flight director hires will be announced later in the fall, and then will begin extensive training with NASA.
This summer, NASA and SpaceX's launch of astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley market the first American liftoff in nearly a decade.
Following the mission, NASA named its new human spaceflight director, Kathy Lueders. In that announcement, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine alluded to the missions that are in the works for human spaceflight.
"We have our sights set on the Moon and even deeper into space, and Kathy is going to help lead us there," Bridenstine said.
