spacetoday.net: NASA unveils new astronaut class

Posted: Thu, May 6, 2004, 7:47 PM ET (2347 GMT)
Astronaut class of 2004 (NASA)

NASA announced Thursday a new class of 11 astronauts, many of whom may have to wait the better part of a decade to actually fly in space. The astronaut class was formally announced during Space Day ceremonies at the National Air and Space Museum's Udvar-Hazy Center in northern Virginia, although information about some members of the class leaked out in the preceding days and weeks. The class includes two pilots, six mission specialists, and three "mission specialist-educators", teachers selected to become full-time astronauts. The new astronauts now give the agency 101 active astronauts as well as 43 "management" astronauts. Given that none of the 17 members of the class selected in 2000, as well as some members of the previous group, have flown into space, members of the latest astronaut class may have to wait several years to fly in space.