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Astronaut vs aerospace engineer

The differences between astronauts and aerospace engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both an astronaut and an aerospace engineer. Additionally, an aerospace engineer has an average salary of $100,401, which is higher than the $73,142 average annual salary of an astronaut.

Astronaut vs aerospace engineer overview

AstronautAerospace Engineer
Yearly salary$73,142$100,401
Hourly rate$35.16$48.27
Growth rate6%6%
Number of jobs19842,086
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 100%Bachelor's Degree, 72%
Average age4444
Years of experience44

Astronaut vs aerospace engineer salary

Astronauts and aerospace engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.

AstronautAerospace Engineer
Average salary$73,142$100,401
Salary rangeBetween $47,000 And $111,000Between $71,000 And $140,000
Highest paying City-San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state-Arizona
Best paying company-Thrush Aircraft
Best paying industry-Manufacturing

Differences between astronaut and aerospace engineer education

There are a few differences between an astronaut and an aerospace engineer in terms of educational background:

AstronautAerospace Engineer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 100%Bachelor's Degree, 72%
Most common majorAerospace EngineeringAerospace Engineering
Most common collegeUniversity of Texas at AustinGeorgia Institute of Technology

Astronaut vs aerospace engineer demographics

Here are the differences between astronauts' and aerospace engineers' demographics:

AstronautAerospace Engineer
Average age4444
Gender ratioMale, 87.5% Female, 12.5%Male, 88.8% Female, 11.2%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 2.2% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 5.2% Asian, 2.5% White, 84.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%Black or African American, 4.1% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 10.8% Asian, 11.0% White, 69.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage9%8%

Differences between astronaut and aerospace engineer duties and responsibilities

Astronaut example responsibilities.

  • Spearhead implementation of new scheduling tool that eliminate syllabus deviations, adopt as squadron standard.
  • Coordinate bi-national testing of aircraft countermeasures against next-generation missile seekers.

Aerospace engineer example responsibilities.

  • Lead redesign review for cyclic stick, composite to metal, (CATIA).
  • Schedule HVAC equipment to keep equipment off as much as possible and still achieve a healthy, comfortable setting for academics.
  • Manage HVAC retro-commissioning program to optimize facility energy use.
  • Serve as program focal point for integration of radar onto flight test aircraft.
  • Perform design reviews, operations procedural reviews, and failure mode investigations of concept NASA launch vehicles/propulsion systems.
  • Debug and run regression tests.
  • Show more

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