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$74,000 is the average annual salary of a rocket scientist.
$48.41 an hour is what a rocket scientist contractor makes, compared to $83 an hour for tech consultants designing ERP systems.
Who Counts As Rocket Scientists?
Aeronautical and astronautical engineers.
What You Need To Know Deeply:
Astrodynamics (orbital mechanics); Fluid mechanics (fluid flow around objects); Electrotechnology (electronics within engineering); Propulsion (what makes things fly).
Schools of Note: MIT, Georgia Tech, and Michigan; also Purdue, Maryland, Illinois, Stanford, Texas, Virginia Tech and California Institute of Technology.
First In Flight?
Oliver of Malmesbury, a monk, is said to have flown with aid of wings in 1010. No rocket scientist, he leaped from an abbey, soared 125 paces, fell and broke his legs.
Ron Howard's brother, Clint, worked mission control in the movie Apollo 13.
2.9 million results came up for the phrase, "It ain't rocket science," in a recent Web search.
Still Interested?
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics is the official professional society for rocket scientists (http://www.aiaa.org).
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