"It's demoralizing to sit around for 15 years waiting for a flight when that's a thing you've wanted to do since you're a kid, or the reason you gave up your high paying job working for Lockheed or you got off your PhD, postdoc track at Cornell or left your military career," Michael Cassutt, an author and historian, told Axios.Yes, but: Experts caution that NASA shouldn't take on too many astronauts at any given time due to the risk of low morale caused by potentially long waits for a flight assignment. Training also needs to be updated to help prepare astronauts for Artemis missions, in order to make sure they're prepared to fly aboard a new vehicle and rocket, collect samples from the Moon and perform various novel science experiments.The OIG also pointed out that NASA doesn't keep detailed demographic data on all of its astronauts - particularly those detailed to the space agency from military branches - making it hard to know whether NASA is meeting its diversity goals.The relatively small number is fine for current needs on the International Space Station, but it will need to grow in order to crew Artemis missions to the Moon. At the moment, there are 44 astronauts that make up NASA's active astronaut corps, far lower than its peak of almost 150 in 2000 during the space shuttle program.That goal requires a robust corps with new, specialized training in what it takes to live and work on the Moon - and NASA needs to start planning now.ĭriving the news: NASA will need to grow the number of astronauts in its active corps in order to satisfy its requirements for lunar missions, according to a new report from NASA's Office of Inspector General. Why it matters: NASA has plans to fly astronauts to the surface of the Moon in 2025 and ultimately establish a long-term presence there. NASA's next crewed missions to the Moon will need a larger, differently-trained and multi-skilled astronaut corps to deliver on the agency's ambitions.
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