Future Uncertain for Nation's Astronauts
FYI,
"Future Uncertain for Nation's Astronauts"
Associated Press
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1894&e=1&u=/ap/20050306/ap_on_sc/grounded_astronauts
: George Zamka has been an astronaut for almost seven years, and he
: still hasn't made it to space. But he's far from alone. Grounded
: for two years, a third of the nation's nearly 150 astronauts have
: never flown in space, and some wonder when they will.
: "Part of being at NASA is very few people get to fly in space,"
: Zamka said. "Everyone else gets their enjoyment by contributing to
: the space mission."
: The last class of astronauts has already been warned that it's
: unclear whether any of them will fly during the shuttle era — which
: ends in five years. All face an uncertain future and development of
: the next-generation space vehicle could take until 2010.
: "They knew very well that they arrived at the sunset of the shuttle
: and the dawn of the new vehicle and they may be exposed to the gap
: in between the two," Zamka said of the newest class of astronauts.
: "For the last classes, there has been an effort made to make sure
: they are informed as to what the wait may be like. And they come
: anyway."
: Forty-six of the nation's 142 astronauts have not flown in space;
: some of them are rookies, others have waited for years.
: Zamka didn't think his wait would be so long. He expects to be
: assigned to a flight in another two years and hopes to fly within
: the next four.
: By that time, he'll have waited a decade.
: "The nature of the business is it is a risky business, and
: certainly, part of that risk is delays and unforeseen events,"
: Zamka said. "A lot of these things are just out of my control."
: Astronaut Mark Polansky, who has flown one space mission and is set
: to command a mission next year, said some of his colleagues have
: expressed concern about where they are in line and when the
: opportunity to fly will come their way.
: Zamka tries not to focus on it and says it only crosses his mind
: when he's idle.
: "We are not stewing over here because we are not flying," he
: said. "We are all busy trying to get back to flying. We all turn
: ourselves to the task at hand and that is how we deal with it."
: They get inspiration from former astronauts, such as Story
: Musgrave, who waited 16 years to fly. He was selected as an
: astronaut in 1967 and didn't make it to space until 1983.
: "I never had the attitude: 'I finally made it,'" Musgrave said from
: his Florida home. "That wasn't the way I was thinking."
: Instead Musgrave said he concentrated on the tasks before him and
: working to be the best in the business.
: "Space is my calling," Musgrave said. "It was not a stepping stone
: to something greener. It was a calling, so I just took it as far as
: I could."
: Musgrave ultimately flew on six shuttle missions before leaving
: NASA in 1997. Since his departure, Musgrave has written numerous
: scientific papers and worked as a consultant.
: Shuttle missions have been halted since the Columbia accident two
: years ago that killed all seven crew members. May is the target for
: the next shuttle flight, but even that is a tentative date.
: There was a similar grounding of shuttles after the Challenger
: explosion in January 1986 while repairs were made. But back then,
: only two or three astronauts worked full-time to correct the solid
: rocket booster problem that caused that disaster, said astronaut
: Pam Melroy.
: This time it's different.
: Virtually all astronauts are intimately involved in the shuttle
: improvements, which include the ability to make repairs in space.
: "The focus is very heavily on the astronauts and the crew, because
: they are going to have to actually go out and do this," Melroy said
: of the in-orbit repairs.
: Almost everyone in the astronaut office is involved with return-to-
: flight in some way. The training, studying and additional work have
: been relentless, the astronauts say.
: Those who aren't in a shuttle crew are assigned a variety of return-
: to-flight tasks and research on the development of a new space
: vehicle and President Bush (news - web sites)'s moon-to-Mars plan
: outlined last year.
: Astronaut Andy Thomas, one of the crew members tentatively set to
: fly in May, has been concentrating on the three spacewalks for the
: next mission, which will test a variety of inspection and repair
: techniques.
: "Even though we are not flying, it is a very busy time, it really
: is," Thomas said as he made sure two of his colleagues were properly
: strapped in and lowered into the neutral buoyancy lab pool. "It is
: an ambitious undertaking."
: NASA would like to get a few more flights out of its three aged
: shuttles — built on 30-year-old technology — before they are phased
: out in 2010.
: Once the shuttles are retired, it could take until 2015 for NASA to
: have a new vehicle ready to go.
: "People are not shirking that opportunity just because there is a
: wait in front of them," Zamka said. "This is a wonderful opportunity
: to be in the line or the window to fly in space at some time."
So when does NASA start laying off their excess astronauts? Just asking. ;)
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Mark Reiff <markreiff@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
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