At the start of the year, the American space agency is sounding the alarm: the size of its astronaut corps could be too small to meet its future space mission needs.
This observation is formulated black on white in a report dated January 11 where the American space agency (Nasa) affirms that it is entering a new era of human space flight: “[Avec] return to the Moon and eventual landing of humans on Mars, effective management of its astronaut corps is critical to the agency’s success.” Today, NASA has 44 agents against 150 in 2000.
Big ambitions, small teams
Despite everything, NASA continues to think big. It also hopes that its astronauts will be able to maintain their presence in Earth orbit aboard the International Space Station. But not only: she also continues to work on the international project Artemis, a program that works for the man to set foot on the ground of the Moon again, a historic event that has not happened again since 1972. Further exploration of the planet Mars is also among its priorities. But all these projects require people. Because NASA stresses that it must also anticipate logistical factors such as the replacement of sick astronauts on certain missions.
Ten new candidates selected
Today, the agency manages to have enough astronauts for its missions, with teams of three to four people, for the next five years. Moreover, ten new candidates were selected at the end of 2021.
The report ends with four recommendations for NASA to change the situation.