<p>If you want to go the pilot route, the Academies are definitely the way to go. </p>
<p>I’ll set back, just so everyone gets a background, there are two ways to become an astronaut: pilot and mission specialist. </p>
<p>The pilots clearly are the guys that fly the shuttle and are the commander of the shuttle missions/ISS missions. They’re almost (if not always?) active duty military pilots. Its split between AF, Navy, Marines…much to my chagrin, the Naval Academy has the most astronauts of any University. </p>
<p>The Mission Specialists are just normal people, by normal I mean civilians with advanced degrees. There’s a lot of PHD’s in this group, also a lot of physicians, a few dentists and I know of one Vet who…I actually think was on STS-123. </p>
<p>So, if you really want to fly with NASA, yes, absoletly the Military Academies could be a good move. On the other hand, one of the guys I work with at Langley (Nasa Langley…we’re right next door to Langley AFB, but its different) was going to be a pro football until he was injured, went back and got a degree in chemistry, started working for NASA…and poof! He’s a mission specialist, who went up with STS-122.</p>
<p>So are the academies the only way to become an astronaut? Definitely not. But if you want to fly the Orion Command Module if a few years, its probably your best bet. </p>
<p>I hope that was somehow related to your question…</p>