Dwindling ranks of astronauts may be too thin

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - A new report says NASA needs to keep more astronauts on staff than currently envisioned by the space agency.

Many astronauts have retired or quit with this year's end of the shuttles. NASA expects to operate the International Space Station until 2020, however, and U.S. companies hope to provide spacecraft for crews.

NASA's astronaut corps totaled nearly 150 in 2000. It's now down to 60. NASA projects it will need 55 to 60 astronauts over the next five years.

The report released Wednesday by the National Research Council warns that may not be enough.

NASA had asked the council to look at the role and size of the astronaut corps during this transition time. A committee of 13 experts - five of them former astronauts - conducted the study.

Frederick Gregory, a former astronaut who commanded three shuttle missions and has served as NASA's deputy administrator, pointed out that astronauts are trained for specific roles and missions can't be easily interchanged. Similarly, committee co-chair Joe Rothenberg, a former senior NASA official, noted that with the retirement of the shuttle program and the uncertainty during the transition to a fully operational ISS, "it's even more important that the talent level, diversity, and capabilities of the astronaut office be sustained." He added that NASA will need to maintain adequate training facilities in order to ensure what he described as a robust astronaut corps.