Author Topic: Applications of a history major in the Space industry.  (Read 7525 times)

Offline DatUser14

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 528
  • Liked: 191
  • Likes Given: 651
What sort of jobs could people with history majors get in the space industry. I did several college visits and learned that history majors could be technical writers. What companies could they work for? I'm a high school senior in the U.S, I'm planning for college.
Titan IVB was a cool rocket

Offline Jim

  • Night Gator
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 37441
  • Cape Canaveral Spaceport
  • Liked: 21451
  • Likes Given: 428
Re: Applications of a history major in the Space industry.
« Reply #1 on: 08/11/2015 02:01 am »
What sort of jobs could people with history majors get in the space industry. I did several college visits and learned that history majors could be technical writers. What companies could they work for? I'm a high school senior in the U.S, I'm planning for college.

With the advent of internet, PC's and desktop publishing, engineers are doing their own paperwork.  Tech writers have faded into the past.

Offline nadreck

What sort of jobs could people with history majors get in the space industry. I did several college visits and learned that history majors could be technical writers. What companies could they work for? I'm a high school senior in the U.S, I'm planning for college.

With the advent of internet, PC's and desktop publishing, engineers are doing their own paperwork.  Tech writers have faded into the past.

Quite the opposite. When I started in IT (circa 1980) the new and junior professionals did the technical writing. My early computers manuals were written by technical people. Nowadays your business would perish if the clients had to read things written by engineers. Professional technical writers came into their own in the mid 80's, and it was precisely tools like word processors and desktop publishing that made their jobs manageable as part of a technical development effort.
It is all well and good to quote those things that made it past your confirmation bias that other people wrote, but this is a discussion board damnit! Let us know what you think! And why!

Offline strangequark

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1072
  • Co-Founder, Tesseract Space
  • San Francisco, CA
  • Liked: 226
  • Likes Given: 12
Re: Applications of a history major in the Space industry.
« Reply #3 on: 08/11/2015 04:46 am »
Different industry. For aerospace, Jim is dead on.

As for the question, there are many paths into this business, but history would be a tortuous one. Nothing wrong with the major, but it's a very unusual choice for this industry.
« Last Edit: 08/11/2015 04:51 am by strangequark »

Offline nadreck

Different industry. For aerospace, Jim is dead on.

Do you really thing that will persist when there are thousands of cubesats being designed at any given time (there are several hundred right now), when 100's of people are going to need to understand how HSF systems work from a users point of view, and when Mars is being colonized?

And if those aren't happening, well at least the OP can fall back on the allure of 'romantic eras'. Though to quote Heinlein "it takes practical people to live in romantic times"
It is all well and good to quote those things that made it past your confirmation bias that other people wrote, but this is a discussion board damnit! Let us know what you think! And why!

Offline Burninate

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1145
  • Liked: 360
  • Likes Given: 74
Re: Applications of a history major in the Space industry.
« Reply #5 on: 08/11/2015 05:45 am »
My standard, admittedly harsh & overgeneralized advice is that you need some STEM in the mix, or your college degree wasn't worthwhile as an accreditation for a career field you want to be in;  Other degrees are interesting as an experience, and as a general background for an office job, but they're unlikely to get you into a position where you have a passion for solving interesting problems in 2015.

You don't necessarily have to pick and choose.  A dual major in history and engineering, or history and physics, or history and CS, is a thing you can do as a fulltime student, and finish in 4-5 years depending on commitment level.  A minor in history is also a path you might choose.

Regardless, hit those internship opportunities hard, a range of internship experiences roughly doubles the value of your degree if you hope to break into a field.
« Last Edit: 08/11/2015 05:54 am by Burninate »

Offline Jim

  • Night Gator
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 37441
  • Cape Canaveral Spaceport
  • Liked: 21451
  • Likes Given: 428
Re: Applications of a history major in the Space industry.
« Reply #6 on: 08/11/2015 01:30 pm »

1.  Do you really thing that will persist when there are thousands of cubesats being designed at any given time (there are several hundred right now),

2.  when 100's of people are going to need to understand how HSF systems work from a users point of view, and when Mars is being colonized?


1,  And what does that have to do with tech writing?  Again, it is engineers doing the paperwork.

2.  That isn't space industry, that is tourist or transportation industry.  It isn't the aerospace industry that writes the airline seat pocket instructions.

Offline Jim

  • Night Gator
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 37441
  • Cape Canaveral Spaceport
  • Liked: 21451
  • Likes Given: 428
Re: Applications of a history major in the Space industry.
« Reply #7 on: 08/11/2015 01:33 pm »

Quite the opposite. When I started in IT (circa 1980) the new and junior professionals did the technical writing. My early computers manuals were written by technical people. Nowadays your business would perish if the clients had to read things written by engineers. Professional technical writers came into their own in the mid 80's, and it was precisely tools like word processors and desktop publishing that made their jobs manageable as part of a technical development effort.

Those writers had nothing to do with the design and construction of the computers (computer industry).  They were in the marketing portion. 

Offline nadreck


Quite the opposite. When I started in IT (circa 1980) the new and junior professionals did the technical writing. My early computers manuals were written by technical people. Nowadays your business would perish if the clients had to read things written by engineers. Professional technical writers came into their own in the mid 80's, and it was precisely tools like word processors and desktop publishing that made their jobs manageable as part of a technical development effort.

Those writers had nothing to do with the design and construction of the computers (computer industry).  They were in the marketing portion.

If you are referring to the writers I was speaking about in the first part of the paragraph, they were the people who weren't trusted to design the operating system or imbedded apps of the IBM compatible cluster controllers. So they documented them for the IT people who would operate them. Those same people, in the next design round were the ones coding and then later designing, while new people wrote documentation until they were up to speed on the environment.  It was found that IT people could understand the manuals better though, if they were written by writers than engineers. Similarly with telephone exchanges (which I also worked on in the mid to late eighties) initial manuals (aimed at techs in telephone companies) were written by engineers, they were later written by professional writers resulting is less misunderstandings and calls to troubleshoot installation problems.

I am saying that this will occur with space systems. Those who have to operate ECLSS systems, swap seats between two capsules, dock a dragon to a BA330 etc. will need manuals that are readable. Eventually it can't all be done with an engineer on air at some mission control hand holding each activity. And even if LEO space travel continues to be as hand held as a the average Everest ascent, there is no possibility of this at Mars, the asteroid belt, Jovian moons etc.
It is all well and good to quote those things that made it past your confirmation bias that other people wrote, but this is a discussion board damnit! Let us know what you think! And why!

Offline Jim

  • Night Gator
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 37441
  • Cape Canaveral Spaceport
  • Liked: 21451
  • Likes Given: 428
Re: Applications of a history major in the Space industry.
« Reply #9 on: 08/11/2015 04:23 pm »

I am saying that this will occur with space systems. Those who have to operate ECLSS systems, swap seats between two capsules, dock a dragon to a BA330 etc. will need manuals that are readable. Eventually it can't all be done with an engineer on air at some mission control hand holding each activity. And even if LEO space travel continues to be as hand held as a the average Everest ascent, there is no possibility of this at Mars, the asteroid belt, Jovian moons etc.

Not going to happen in time for the OP in five years when he is looking for a job in the space industry.

Offline RonM

  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3340
  • Atlanta, Georgia USA
  • Liked: 2231
  • Likes Given: 1584
Re: Applications of a history major in the Space industry.
« Reply #10 on: 08/11/2015 04:32 pm »
Even if the space industry needs technical writers, it would be a difficult path for a history major. Some people in the technical fields are excellent writers and they would have a better chance of getting the job.

Best bet would be a science or engineering degree.

Jim, can you share how you got to where you are today? I think that would be helpful for students wanting a career in aerospace.

Offline Jim

  • Night Gator
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 37441
  • Cape Canaveral Spaceport
  • Liked: 21451
  • Likes Given: 428

Offline Kabloona

  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4846
  • Velocitas Eradico
  • Fortress of Solitude
  • Liked: 3429
  • Likes Given: 741
Re: Applications of a history major in the Space industry.
« Reply #12 on: 08/11/2015 05:16 pm »
What sort of jobs could people with history majors get in the space industry. I did several college visits and learned that history majors could be technical writers. What companies could they work for? I'm a high school senior in the U.S, I'm planning for college.

If you want to work in the space industry, history is probably not the best choice of a major. If you like English and want to write, you might consider journalism with a focus on technical subjects. There will always be a place for science writers who focus on space. Several major newspapers/news outlets have science writers who focus on space topics (Bill Harwood of CBS News, James Dean of Florida Today, Kenneth Chang of the NY Times, etc.) However, there are not a lot of people making a living as science writers, so if you want to make a living that way you have to be both talented and lucky.

Another career path is in public relations, ie writing press releases for companies like SpaceX, Orbital, etc. but you have to be a people-person and have the knack for corporate-speak, and have the talent for obfuscating the truth (sorry, but that's what happens in the PR world)  which many people don't. And again, there may be thousands of engineers but only one or two PR people at an aerospace company.

If at all possible, you should take more science and math courses and try to pursue a more technical path (electrical engineer, mechanical engineer, etc) as a way into the space industry. People who can write but don't have hard technical skills aren't in high demand in that industry. Without those skills your options narrow considerably.
« Last Edit: 08/11/2015 05:32 pm by Kabloona »

Offline DatUser14

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 528
  • Liked: 191
  • Likes Given: 651
Re: Applications of a history major in the Space industry.
« Reply #13 on: 08/15/2015 11:19 am »
Thank you all for your kind and informative replies.

The reason for this thread was because of a conversation I had with a professor while doing a college visit. They said that history majors are versatile and can do a lot many things, like analysis that are useful in the space field.  One of the reasons I am not pursing a more technical approach to the space field is my math learning disability, which severely limits my math comprehension; kind of precluding me being an engineer. I was briefly interested in maybe doing PR, but Journalism isn't really my thing. Again, thank you all for your replies.
Titan IVB was a cool rocket

Offline edkyle99

  • Expert
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 15391
    • Space Launch Report
  • Liked: 8566
  • Likes Given: 1356
Re: Applications of a history major in the Space industry.
« Reply #14 on: 08/15/2015 04:08 pm »
Thank you all for your kind and informative replies.

The reason for this thread was because of a conversation I had with a professor while doing a college visit. They said that history majors are versatile and can do a lot many things, like analysis that are useful in the space field.  One of the reasons I am not pursing a more technical approach to the space field is my math learning disability, which severely limits my math comprehension; kind of precluding me being an engineer. I was briefly interested in maybe doing PR, but Journalism isn't really my thing. Again, thank you all for your replies.
Many histories have been written, of course, about the U.S. manned space program, NASA, etc., but there is a substantial, much larger, "hidden history" of the space and missile races during the Cold War.  Some of that has been declassified, in part, during recent years, but there are many untold stories - fertile ground for a historian.  Some of the best historians working this field are on this forum, by the way.

 - Ed Kyle

Offline Kabloona

  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4846
  • Velocitas Eradico
  • Fortress of Solitude
  • Liked: 3429
  • Likes Given: 741
Re: Applications of a history major in the Space industry.
« Reply #15 on: 08/16/2015 05:41 pm »
Thank you all for your kind and informative replies.

The reason for this thread was because of a conversation I had with a professor while doing a college visit. They said that history majors are versatile and can do a lot many things, like analysis that are useful in the space field.

Unfortunately, I suspect the professor who told you that has no actual knowledge of nor interest in the history of space, and he surely is not being employed by the space industry, he's being employed by a college. So I would take what he said with a very large dose of salt.

As edkyle said above, there's plenty of space history to be researched. The question is, who's going to pay you to do so? You could try to get a history professorship, or a job teaching high school history, and spend your summers researching space history. And if your research and your writing quality was good enough, you might manage to get a book published.
« Last Edit: 08/16/2015 05:44 pm by Kabloona »

Offline strangequark

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1072
  • Co-Founder, Tesseract Space
  • San Francisco, CA
  • Liked: 226
  • Likes Given: 12
Re: Applications of a history major in the Space industry.
« Reply #16 on: 08/16/2015 06:13 pm »
Thank you all for your kind and informative replies.

The reason for this thread was because of a conversation I had with a professor while doing a college visit. They said that history majors are versatile and can do a lot many things, like analysis that are useful in the space field.  One of the reasons I am not pursing a more technical approach to the space field is my math learning disability, which severely limits my math comprehension; kind of precluding me being an engineer. I was briefly interested in maybe doing PR, but Journalism isn't really my thing. Again, thank you all for your replies.

Have you considered business development? There's a lot of startups on the new space side that need that skill set.

As for the professor, humanities funding is currently being threatened at a lot of schools because of the recent push for STEM. There's a lot of pressure to sell students on humanities majors as being a path that is versatile and adaptable. Take it with a shaker, not a grain, of salt. Academia does what is best for academics, not for students. Do your own research, which you've made a good start with here, and don't trust anyone without verifying what they say independently.

Offline notsorandom

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1740
  • Ohio
  • Liked: 438
  • Likes Given: 91
Re: Applications of a history major in the Space industry.
« Reply #17 on: 08/17/2015 01:25 pm »
A B.A. in history is not likely to get you into the space industry all on its own. It is a good degree though that will allow you to do many things. History majors need to be able to do research, analysis, and write clearly and concisely. Those are valuable skills.

One thing that you can do with a history degree is easily go on to a further education. A PhD is pretty much required to do anything in the field of history but a masters can be enough for many different fields. Many graduate programs will accept a history degree. You can get into medical school for example. Some may offer a path to get into the space industry. If you go to a school with good history program and get your degree with a high GPA then graduate school shouldn't be too difficult for you.

You will need to meet the pre-requirements for graduate schools though. History being a liberal arts degree allows you to choose a very broad range of electives. Choose the hard ones, not the easy ones. Taking STEM classes will help you tremendously. Get through as much calculus, chemistry, and other things like that as you can. If you do choose a history degree and think you might go on to graduate school give yourself as many options as you can. You don't have to make a choice for a few more years. So give yourself a solid foundation when you do need to select one. Look at the graduate programs (both space and non space related) you might be interested in. See what they require then take those classes.

Offline david1971

  • Full Member
  • **
  • Posts: 239
  • Liked: 136
  • Likes Given: 16569
Re: Applications of a history major in the Space industry.
« Reply #18 on: 08/17/2015 05:01 pm »
Thank you all for your kind and informative replies.

The reason for this thread was because of a conversation I had with a professor while doing a college visit. They said that history majors are versatile and can do a lot many things, like analysis that are useful in the space field.

Unfortunately, I suspect the professor who told you that has no actual knowledge of nor interest in the history of space, and he surely is not being employed by the space industry, he's being employed by a college. So I would take what he said with a very large dose of salt.

What Kabloona said.

Many/most professors either don't understand the job prospects in their own profession, or do and lie about them.  Grad schools are filled with far more students than there job slots in those fields, encouraged to do so by those same profs.  If that's the case for their own fields, believe them even less for topics that are far removed.
I flew on SOFIA four times.

Tags:
 

Advertisement NovaTech
Advertisement Northrop Grumman
Advertisement
Advertisement Margaritaville Beach Resort South Padre Island
Advertisement Brady Kenniston
Advertisement NextSpaceflight
Advertisement Nathan Barker Photography
1