The agency's investigative office said in a report that NASA may need more astronauts to meet its goals.
NASA only flies astronauts to the International Space Station aboard the Crew Dragon and Russia's Soyuz vehicles. The first crewed mission of the Artemis program is set to take place in the year 2024, and will return humans to the moon. That flight is meant to be the first step in developing a long-term lunar exploration program that supports future human exploration of Mars.
NASA is looking at sending more astronauts off- Earth, according to a report from the Office of Investigator General.
The size of the corps has diminished with the end of space shuttle missions in 2011. Effective management of NASA's astronauts is critical to the agency's success as it enters a new era of human space flight, including returning to the moon and eventually landing humans on Mars.
How to become an astronomer.
NASA assigns astronauts roles like capsule communicators who relay information from mission control to space, as well as training new astronauts and speaking with the public about NASA's work, while flying on missions to space missions.
NASA has the smallest crew of astronauts since the 1970s. A surge in retirements around the time the agency grounded its fleet of space shuttles resulted in the current size of the corps.
The report noted that astronauts are not interchangeable, which makes the potential shortage even more complicated. NASA assigns individual astronauts to specific flights based on criteria such as flight experience, training, and vehicle, as well as how their expertise meshes with the rest of the crew. As NASA astronauts fly on more different types of vehicles to more destinations, the requirements will become more complicated.
The Astronaut Office is in a position to quickly reassign astronauts because all 44 have been selected and initially trained for the same mission, officials wrote in the report. Fewer astronauts will be trained and available for each mission as the agency undertakes new missions with new requirements.
The agency uses a formula to determine how many astronauts it will bring in. The newest class of 10 was announced in December 2021, and just began the agency's general two-year training program.
The 10 new astronauts, plus two from the United Arab Emirates, arrived at the Johnson Space Center on January 10, 2022. The image is from NASA.
Training for a space station mission requires an additional 18 to 24 months after becoming anastrologer. The first two astronauts from the most recent class are currently in space. The agency needs to think about its crew requirements later in the decade because the latest recruits won't begin flying until late in the century.
Artemis missions are expected to require the same amount of training as space station missions. The report warned that the agency may be running low on time for the training program for its moon missions because it has not assigned any seats yet.
Even with the projected delays to Artemis 2 and 3 launches, the agency could be overestimating the time available to develop and implement the necessary training framework and regimen across key Artemis systems.
NASA's astronauts will join a list of constraints on future missions along with factors like budgets, spacesuit supply and rocket manufacturing according to the report. "If not addressed, these factors could potentially result in disruptive crew reorganizations, extended training periods, or mission delays," the report states.
The report suggested that the agency beef up its information management system for data and skills to help facilitate the assignment process, as well as concerns about the quantity and training schedules of astronauts.
NASA needs accurate demographic information about its astronauts, as it pushes to change its representation in space, according to the report. Tracking which astronauts have a background in geology will be important as missions head to planetary surfaces instead of low Earth orbit.
The Office of Inspector General provided a draft of the document to Kathy Lueders, NASA's associate administrator for space operations. The agency agreed with all four of the report's recommendations and will execute them by November. NASA didn't give additional comments to Space.com.
Follow her on social media: EmailMeghan Bartels at mbartels@space.com Follow us on social media.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
