General discussion
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Topic
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NASA Shouts astronaut shortage
LockedWASHINGTON ??? The United States does not have enough astronauts to meet the changing needs of human spaceflight in the coming years, warned a report Wednesday by a non-profit group that advises on science policy.
The shrinking American astronaut corps poses risks to the US investment in human spaceflight and NASA should take steps to boost the size of its space-flying crew, the National Research Council said in its report.
“Viewed as a supply chain, astronaut selection and training is very sensitive to critical shortfalls,” said committee co-chair Frederick Gregory, former commander of three shuttle missions.
“Astronauts who are trained for specific roles and missions can’t be easily interchanged,” said Gregory, also a former NASA deputy administrator.
At its peak in 1999, during the space shuttle era and as the International Space Station was being built, NASA maintained a staff of 150 astronauts.
But in 2011 that number shrank to 61, as the space shuttle program ended after 30 years leaving Russia as the only nation with a vehicle capable of taking people to the ISS.
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They can’t send people to space anymore, so why the hell would they need astronauts for? Just like a Big Programmer Shortage Panic around 1999, just before the dotcom bubble burst.
The more things get screwed up, the louder the labor shortage shouting.