[FPSPACE] Re: A single team of cosmonauts?

[Robert Pearlman]

On Mar 9, 2005, at 4:11 PM, Dante Wynter wrote:

> On a related note, is that all the Russians have - 21 cosmonauts? 
> Compared to our, what? 110 astronauts still active?  Why are they so 
> practical and we're not?  I'm wondering if any of the Group 19 
> astronauts will *ever* go up.

According to a recent AP article, we have 142 active astronauts, of 
which 49 have yet to fly. At a projected 22 flights remaining (source: 
Space.com), you could fly all 49 rookies and still have 105 seats 
remaining for all experienced astronauts to get at least one more 
flight over the next five years. That would average out to three 
rookies per flight. You could also have at least 10 more seats on 
Soyuz, assuming two taxi flights per year with one American on-board 
and that the U.S. and Russia reach an agreement for Soyuz flights 
beyond 2006.

It was reported that the Group 19 ascans were told before they reported 
for training that they were ISS or CEV-bound and that they would not 
fly on the shuttle.

In comparison, Russia is planning 10 manned flights over the next five 
years, with one cosmonaut on each mission (or two, if no American flies 
and with a possibility of a third if no international or tourist 
candidate is paying). They would also presumably have a few seats on 
future shuttle flights.

Is Russia's relatively small class being practical or scaling to the 
capabilities/needs of their program? The same question could be asked 
of NASA...

-- 
Robert Pearlman, Editor
collectSPACE - The Source for Space History & Artifacts
http://www.collectspace.com/