Children will only say they want to be things they are exposed to and understand. Looking at the list for nowadays, it still includes teachers, athletes and musicians, which they see in the media and might be able to imagine themselves doing. It doesn't include things like lawyers and computer programmers, which aren't careers children are particularly aware of, and even if they were they wouldn't fully appreciate. So the story here is simply that astronauts aren't in the media as much as they were during the Space Race and Cold War. Don't think it is anything to worry about - they'll probably change their minds by the time they grow up anyway. And who knows, by the time they grow up there might be new careers that we can't even imagine these days (I can pretty much guarantee that almost no-one would have imagined jobs like "social media influencer" and "machine learning data cleanser" when I was young).
Take this from a former airforce pilot: the more you learn about the reality of such jobs, the less you want to do them. Infighting, backstabbing, constant testing by people whose <i>job</i> is to fail you, zero room for creativity, and near-zero input into how and where you live your life... it's not worth it.<p>Then when you finally get up at the controls of that cool plane your time is broken down into 5-minute increments. More tests. More senerios. More chances to fail. And if you do fail, all that effort means absolutely nothing in any other job or trade. There is a joke in TopGun about them going from f14s to driving trucks. That isnt too far from reality. Look into what entry-level commercial/civilian pilots make.<p>That said ... i did have a big smile on my face while doing my first aerobatics in a proper plane. 5 minutes of smile after 4+ years of testing.
So do you want to have a creative carrier where you are your own boss, and you'll touch the lives of other people directly.<p>Or do you want to train you whole life to sit in LEO half a summer to push buttons.<p>Makes sense to me.
Astronauts were hugely famous with massive amounts of media coverage in 1969. Who's to say this isn't just about wanting to be someone famous, whether that's an astronaut in 1969 or a YouTuber in 2019?
This says way more about the US, and NASA than the kids today.<p>The US doesn't have a shuttle fleet. We beg the Russians for a ride to space if we need one.<p>I grew up watching the shuttle flights, I'm 41, I watched every one I could when I was a kid, including Challenger and Columbia.<p>I was in the 2nd grade during the Challenger disaster, we watched the launch live in the classroom. It still upsets me to think about it. And after that disaster, we rebuilt ourselves, we did better, and we pressed on.<p>My children will never have an emotional attachment to space travel like that because the US does not have an effective space program.<p>So, of course, the kids don't want to be astronauts. They want to be whatever we the adults, model for them. And, collectively, we've been some shitty role models lately.
I mean if the space industry/tourism takes off in the next couple decades like it's poised to, kids in this generation will have a better chance of getting to space as a private citizen than by becoming an astronaut.<p>The title of astronaut will likely start to change in meaning as well. Perhaps in the future it will just be a catch-all term for those who work directly in outer space as opposed to tourists or onboard staff.
So they choose to play with videogames and makeup in their room, instead the super-dangerous activity that could freeze, burn, asphyxiate, mutilate or kill them with 99% of probability if something fails, and will temporarily destroy their muscles and health if all goes 100% ok?<p>Such smart kids. Their parents should be proud.
In my head this sounds pretty bad. this sounds like kids won't be aspiring to be in a career that naturally involves some degree of curiosity and wonder and general coolness (astronaut), but rather some rando on YouTube with a pop filter and fast editing that already thinks he knows everything. And calls out people, and talks trash, and shows off and constantly tells people to buy them stuff on Amazon and support his content on Patreon or whatever.<p>...Fuck, our kids are gonna be assholes.
I think this is just down to the modern media technology/trends and kids lifestyles these days. When kid media staples such as Sesame Street, Mr. Rogers, Bill Nye the science guy, etc. is replaced by pop-style/hyper-paced youtube stars, what can you expect?<p>Would an average 8 year old be drawn towards 'Neil Armstrong or Chris Hadfield' or towards a popular youtube star close to their own age group?
It makes sense. Kids not too long ago wanted to be tv stars because that was all they watched. I think tv has been on its way out for years and youtube has mostly filled the void. Now they just watch youtube. 'Celebrities' to them are primarily youtube celebs.
Perhaps this is because all the astronauts they see are 40+ years old and are simply not cool/popular. Whereas, all the YouTubers they see are 20 something and are incredibly popular?<p>Short answer, it's cool to be a YouTuber.
We don't invest in Nasa like we did and it doesn't capture the heart of the nation like it once did. NASA cannot even gets its own astronauts to space. Little wonder children instead look the the rockstars of their generation.