Sept. 19, 2007 — NASA posted a recruitment notice for more astronauts on Tuesday, but for the first time in the agency's history there will be no separate hiring for pilots.
In one of the most public acknowledgements that change is afoot, NASA's next class of astronauts will be comprised solely of mission specialists and receive training for long-duration missions on the International Space Station.
With the shuttle fleet retiring in three years, NASA will have no ships to pilot in space anyway, with astronauts riding as passengers to the station aboard Russian Soyuz vehicles or perhaps on commercially provided space transports.
The shuttle's replacement, an Apollo-style capsule called Orion, will not be ready to fly until about 2015, leaving a gap of about five years when the United States will be without means to fly in space.
"This selection (of astronauts) will focus mostly on long-duration ISS crews," said Johnson Space Center spokeswoman Kylie Clem. "If we have any pilots, they will maintain their proficiency, but that's not a distinction we're making."
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It's a far cry from NASA's roots, when only military pilots were hired as astronauts.
In 1959, the newly created civilian space agency asked the U.S. military services to list members who met specific requirements for spaceflight. Those requirements included jet aircraft pilot experience and engineering training. In addition, candidates couldn't be taller than 5 foot 11 because of limited space in the Mercury capsule. Seven men were selected from a pool of more than 500 candidates.
