spacetoday.net: Report: NASA should stabilize astronaut corps

Posted: Thu, Sep 8, 2011, 8:05 AM ET (1205 GMT)
STS-135: crew after landing (NASA/KSC)

NASA should take steps to ensure that it has a sufficient number of astronauts to support the International Space Station and future exploration missions, a report issued Wednesday concluded. The report, by the National Research Council, warned that the shrinking astronaut corps could pose problems given health and other uncertainties. The size of the astronaut corps has decreased by nearly 60 percent since 2000, from nearly 150 to 61, and the report warned that the model NASA uses to determine its minimum staffing requirements can't take into account all uncertainties, including requirements and medical disqualifications. The report doesn't recommend a specific number of astronauts, but does suggest NASA's projections of 55 astronauts by mid-decade may be too low.