Getting into MIT/Caltech

<p>What would be the best thing for me to do in order to get into a good aerospace engineering college? </p>

<p>Name: Fake Name
Age:21
Highschool Graduate
GPA: Terrible
Never took the SAT</p>

<p>I love space, it memorizes me, So i wanted to be an astronaut when i was young.
Can't anymore due to a knee injury, So now i want to be an engineer.
Live near a NASA base in Texas and have visited often.
Would love to work for Nasa or anything close to it.
Afraid that I have a 99% rejection chance if I apply to MIT/Caltech to become an engineer.
My dad was an Engineer and, though I never knew him, I feel that I have a calling for it.
My terrible GPA is due to my mother having cancer and my skipping school to be with her in the hospital. I didn't want my brother to worry so i watched over her while he went to school. By the time she got better I was a senior in highschool(My GPA was the equivalent of a D- because i managed to be at school for some tests). I ended up going to a make-up school for students who wanted to catch up (Basically they take the teachers out of the equation, give you all of the work that a normal highschooler would go through, and let you do it at your own pace with no help). I ended up making up my entire 4 year highschool education in 3 months (A school record) and i won some scholarships. I only graduated because of this school that I went to but(Although allowing me to graduate) the work I did there did not affect my GPA.
With my mom being all better and my little brother doing great in school I think its time i start working on my own life and moving towards my dreams.
How can I start making this happen?
I plan to
-volunteer at NASA
-take community college classes in hopes that the colleges i apply to will looke at my good grades there instead of my highschool grades.<br>
-Get some letters of recommendations from teachers, ex-co workers</p>

<p>Thanks for reading my post. I came across this website while I was google-ing Ideas to help with my current predicament.</p>