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| United States Astronaut Corps | |
|---|---|
| Name | United States Astronaut Corps |
| Established | 1959 |
| Type | Spaceflight personnel |
| Jurisdiction | National Aeronautics and Space Administration |
| Headquarters | Johnson Space Center |
| Members | ~350 (active) |
| Parent agency | National Aeronautics and Space Administration |
United States Astronaut Corps is the body of personnel trained to conduct crewed spaceflight missions for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and affiliated programs. The Corps has conducted operations aboard vehicles such as Mercury-Redstone 3, Gemini 4, Apollo 11, Skylab 4, STS-1, Soyuz TMA-1, SpaceX Crew-1, and Artemis II, contributing to exploration efforts at Low Earth Orbit, Moon, and planning for missions to Mars and Lunar Gateway.
The Corps traces origins to selections following the Sputnik crisis and early Cold War competitions like Operation Paperclip and the Explorer 1 program, leading to the Mercury Seven roster and milestones such as Alan Shepard's flight and John Glenn's orbital mission. During the Apollo program the Corps expanded with groups from NASA Astronaut Group 2 (The New Nine), NASA Astronaut Group 3 (The Fourteen), and later cohorts who participated in Apollo–Soyuz Test Project, Skylab, and Space Shuttle missions. Post-shuttle transitions involved integration with international partners from Roscosmos, collaborations on the International Space Station, and commercial partnerships with SpaceX and Boeing under Commercial Crew Program frameworks.
The Corps is administratively situated at Johnson Space Center with operational links to Kennedy Space Center, Marshall Space Flight Center, Stennis Space Center, and mission control centers like Christopher C. Kraft Jr. Mission Control Center. Roles include Commander (spacecraft), Pilot (aviation), Mission Specialist, Payload Specialist, and Flight Surgeon positions; coordination occurs with agencies such as European Space Agency, Canadian Space Agency, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and Roscosmos. Leadership and selection policy are influenced by directives from Administrator of NASA offices, the Office of Personnel Management, and congressional oversight via committees such as the United States House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.
Candidate selection historically drew from United States Naval Test Pilot School, United States Air Force Test Pilot School, United States Army Aviation Branch, United States Marine Corps, and civilian institutions like Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, and United States Naval Academy. Training curricula encompass instruction in extravehicular activity, spacewalk, orbital mechanics, robotics, and systems aboard Space Shuttle Columbia, Space Shuttle Challenger, Apollo Command/Service Module, Orion (spacecraft), and Crew Dragon. Psychological screening and medical certification involve collaboration with NASA Flight Medicine, Johnson Space Center Medical Operations, and research entities such as National Aeronautics and Space Administration Human Research Program.
Corps members have flown missions spanning suborbital flight profiles like Mercury-Redstone 3 to long-duration expeditions on Expedition 1 aboard the International Space Station. Shuttle-era operations included tasks on STS-31 deploying the Hubble Space Telescope and STS-61 servicing missions; post-shuttle operations feature crew rotations via Soyuz MS and Crew Dragon Endeavour flights to maintain ISS Expedition crews. Future operational plans encompass Artemis program lunar sorties, assembly and utilization of the Lunar Gateway, and preparatory missions for human expeditions to Mars Direct-style objectives.
Training and missions utilize vehicles such as Mercury spacecraft, Gemini spacecraft, Apollo spacecraft, Space Shuttle, Orion (spacecraft), Boeing CST-100 Starliner, and Dragon 2 (Crew Dragon), plus support craft like Soyuz (spacecraft), Progress (spacecraft), and HTV (H-II Transfer Vehicle). Laboratory and life-support hardware include systems from Environmental Control and Life Support System, Canadarm2, Destiny (ISS module), Harmony (ISS module), and suit technologies evolving from EMU (spacesuit) to next-generation xEMU designs developed for Artemis. Ground support involves infrastructure at Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, and telemetry networks linked to Deep Space Network.
Safety protocols reference lessons from incidents such as Apollo 1 fire, Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, and Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, prompting reforms in risk assessment, redundant systems, and crew escape technologies like the Launch Escape System and pusher escape system used on Crew Dragon. Medical monitoring relies on studies from NASA Twins Study, Bed Rest Studies, and collaborations with National Institutes of Health and Wyle Laboratories to mitigate space radiation exposure, bone density loss, and vestibular deconditioning. Emergency response planning integrates assets from United States Navy, United States Air Force, and international recovery units during off-nominal landings and contingency operations.
Prominent individuals include early figures such as Alan Shepard, John Glenn, Gus Grissom, and Scott Carpenter; Apollo-era luminaries like Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Michael Collins, Jim Lovell, and Gene Cernan; Shuttle and ISS-era leaders including Sally Ride, John Young, Chris Hadfield, Mae Jemison, Sunita Williams, Peggy Whitson, Yuri Gagarin-era international collaborators such as Valentina Tereshkova influenced public interest. Landmark missions highlighted involve Apollo 11 lunar landing, STS-31 Hubble deployment, Expedition 1 ISS inception, STS-135 final Shuttle flight, Soyuz TMA-1 crew rotations, and inaugural commercial crew flights like SpaceX Demo-2 and operational flights under Commercial Resupply Services.