Go Through Another Agency
NASA isn’t the only astronaut-training game in the world. There are many other space-faring nations, many of which have astronaut application processes. The European Space Agency and the Japan Space Agency both have information on their websites, though you will need to be a citizen of the EU or Japan. The last round of astronauts for each were from 2008.
Through his twitter feed and social media presence, Commander Chris Hadfield is bringing more attention to the Canadian Space Agency, which exists and also trains astronauts. China and Russia are also options, though the selection process is a bit murkier.
Chances of becoming an astronaut this way: Not so great. ESA gets thousands of applicants, just like NASA, and only selects a few. If you want to move to Russia, your odds might be better: The last time their space agency had a call for astronauts, only 151 candidates applied. Since Roscosmos trains between one and seven new cosmonauts for each new class, the odds are between 4 percent and 0.6 percent.
Image: NASA