Study: NASA Needs Astronauts

Even with NASA’s uncertain future with the end of the space shuttle program, a study shows the space agency needs more astronauts. Astronauts are retiring and others are leaving the space program for new careers faster than they can be replaced.

The study by the National Research Council shows the number of NASA astronauts has shrunk from nearly 150 in 2000 to just 61 this year.

Much of this shrinkage was anticipated with the planned retirement of the space shuttle and the transition from building the International Space Station to actually operating it.

Constant changes and updates in NASA’s needs are a large part of the problem. For years astronauts were only trained to fly the space shuttles to and from the ISS. Operating the station has imposed many complicated new requirements that take years of highly specialized training.

So while the educational requirements, training requirements and skills have increased, the size of the astronaut corps has decreased for a variety of reasons.

The bottom line is that NASA desperately needs more astronauts.

via National-Academies.org | Newsroom.

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