SPACE-EXPLORATION/NASA-AXIOM
NASA today unveiled plans for future civilian missions to the International Space StationDraft new regulations, mainly to require all private missions to have retired astronauts as “guides”. The hope is that this will improve mission safety and have experienced astronauts providing appropriate guidance to other crew members “from the pre-mission phase through to mission completion.”
According to NASA, the reason for the introduction of such regulations is mainly because of the AprilA two-week Axiom missiontoo confusing. According to NASA’s interviews with astronauts, it was found that both the crew of Axiom and the astronauts working on the International Space Station at the time were very stressed. In fact, the Axiom mission is still commanded by a retired NASA astronaut, Michael López-Alegría, and if it’s already so chaotic with a veteran astronaut leading the way, it’s no wonder NASA is worried about future missions.
However, retired astronauts are very scarce. Although there are still about 200 retired astronauts with space experience, not everyone is willing to serve as a “nanny” to go to space. The age of space may not pass the health condition. It’s hard to say how many astronauts can meet the conditions and are willing to join a private company to serve as this guide. NASA itself is now in a state of shortage — NASA currently has a total of 44 astronauts, the fewest since the 1970s, and may not be able to support future space stations, or even lunar missions.
In addition to requiring retired astronauts to be guides, NASA’s new rules include stricter medical requirements for civilian astronauts, increased preparation time for scientific research programs, changes to policies on return cargo, and more time for civilian astronauts to adapt to the microgravity environment. It seems that if you want to go to a space station in the future, you will not be able to do it with money.