NASA inspector general warns astronaut corps might be much too tiny – SpaceNews
WASHINGTON — The dimension of NASA’s astronaut corps could before long slide below the bare minimum stage the company desires to aid place station and Artemis missions and other actions, the agency’s inspector normal warns.
A Jan. 11 report by NASA’s Place of work of Inspector Common located that the agency’s astronaut corps, with 44 energetic astronauts, could slide underneath the “minimum manifest requirement” needed to adequately help Worldwide Space Station and Artemis missions as shortly as this calendar year as astronauts go away the agency. The corps, which had at its peak in 2000 almost 150 astronauts, is now at its smallest size considering that the 1970s.
In accordance to the report, the NASA astronaut place of work executed a “sizing analysis” in 2019 and concluded that the corps would drop beneath the minimum amount manifest necessity in fiscal years 2022 and 2023. That evaluation led to the agency’s final decision to recruit a new course of astronauts, introduced Dec. 6 and who started out two a long time of teaching this thirty day period.
Having said that, by the time those new astronauts are suitable for flight assignments in 2024, NASA will have to contend with equally ongoing attrition of the present corps and desire for added astronauts for the Artemis missions. “As a final result, the Agency may not have a sufficient quantity of supplemental astronauts accessible for unanticipated attrition and crew reassignments or ground roles these as engaging in system growth, staffing Astronaut Business leadership and liaison positions, and serving as spokespeople for the Agency,” the report mentioned.
Just one issue in that shortfall is NASA’s use of a “safety margin” of 15% in its evaluation of the necessary dimensions of the astronaut corps to handle unanticipated attrition, health-related issues and other variables. The protection margin prior to 2014 was 25%, and the report observed that “due to a lack of documentation it is unclear why the margin modified.”
Other aspects involve the likely for improved attrition charges among the the corps, specifically afterwards in the ten years as the ISS nears the conclusion of its lifetime. There is also a bigger demand for astronauts to provide in program advancement roles.
The report also highlighted that a changing ability established among the astronauts may well be essential with the Artemis lunar missions. NASA lacks “comprehensive demographic information” about its astronauts, making it much more tough to monitor how the corps demonstrates the agency’s diversity ambitions.
One more issue highlighted in the report is instruction demands for lunar missions. NASA has however to select astronauts for the Artemis 2 and 3 missions, now scheduled for 2024 and no earlier than 2025. When those missions are nevertheless at least two several years away, NASA “could be overestimating the time accessible to develop and apply the important instruction framework and regimen” for them, the report concluded. It famous that, early in the ISS program, instruction for missions was up to 5 yrs long just before getting streamlined to the two decades for latest missions.
The report did not specially suggest NASA raise the dimension of the astronaut corps outside of the new course that just started off schooling. It did, having said that, advocate NASA reevaluate the 15% safety margin applied for determining the dimensions of the corps, alongside with tips on improved selection of astronaut demographic information and new advice for evaluating training. NASA, in a response integrated in the report, reported it approved the tips.
WASHINGTON — The dimension of NASA’s astronaut corps could before long slide below the bare minimum stage the company desires to aid place station and Artemis missions and other actions, the agency’s inspector normal warns.
A Jan. 11 report by NASA’s Place of work of Inspector Common located that the agency’s astronaut corps, with 44 energetic astronauts, could slide underneath the “minimum manifest requirement” needed to adequately help Worldwide Space Station and Artemis missions as shortly as this calendar year as astronauts go away the agency. The corps, which had at its peak in 2000 almost 150 astronauts, is now at its smallest size considering that the 1970s.
In accordance to the report, the NASA astronaut place of work executed a “sizing analysis” in 2019 and concluded that the corps would drop beneath the minimum amount manifest necessity in fiscal years 2022 and 2023. That evaluation led to the agency’s final decision to recruit a new course of astronauts, introduced Dec. 6 and who started out two a long time of teaching this thirty day period.
Having said that, by the time those new astronauts are suitable for flight assignments in 2024, NASA will have to contend with equally ongoing attrition of the present corps and desire for added astronauts for the Artemis missions. “As a final result, the Agency may not have a sufficient quantity of supplemental astronauts accessible for unanticipated attrition and crew reassignments or ground roles these as engaging in system growth, staffing Astronaut Business leadership and liaison positions, and serving as spokespeople for the Agency,” the report mentioned.
Just one issue in that shortfall is NASA’s use of a “safety margin” of 15% in its evaluation of the necessary dimensions of the astronaut corps to handle unanticipated attrition, health-related issues and other variables. The protection margin prior to 2014 was 25%, and the report observed that “due to a lack of documentation it is unclear why the margin modified.”
Other aspects involve the likely for improved attrition charges among the the corps, specifically afterwards in the ten years as the ISS nears the conclusion of its lifetime. There is also a bigger demand for astronauts to provide in program advancement roles.
The report also highlighted that a changing ability established among the astronauts may well be essential with the Artemis lunar missions. NASA lacks “comprehensive demographic information” about its astronauts, making it much more tough to monitor how the corps demonstrates the agency’s diversity ambitions.
One more issue highlighted in the report is instruction demands for lunar missions. NASA has however to select astronauts for the Artemis 2 and 3 missions, now scheduled for 2024 and no earlier than 2025. When those missions are nevertheless at least two several years away, NASA “could be overestimating the time accessible to develop and apply the important instruction framework and regimen” for them, the report concluded. It famous that, early in the ISS program, instruction for missions was up to 5 yrs long just before getting streamlined to the two decades for latest missions.
The report did not specially suggest NASA raise the dimension of the astronaut corps outside of the new course that just started off schooling. It did, having said that, advocate NASA reevaluate the 15% safety margin applied for determining the dimensions of the corps, alongside with tips on improved selection of astronaut demographic information and new advice for evaluating training. NASA, in a response integrated in the report, reported it approved the tips.