Want to be an astronaut? Here's your chance A chance to really shoot for the stars

NASA looking to hire 10 to 15 new astronauts

NASA posted a hiring notice for new astronauts Tuesday, seeking for the first time in almost 30 years men and women to fly aboard spacecraft other than the shuttle.

The pilots, scientists, engineers and educators that NASA recruits will train primarily for three- to six-month missions aboard the international space station. However, some could be among those who stroll on the surface of the moon as part of NASA's plan to return human explorers to the lunar surface by 2020 aboard the shuttle fleet's successor spacecraft.

"Yes, I think it's quite likely," said Ellen Ochoa, who supervises NASA's astronaut corps as the director of flight crew operations at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The space agency's help-wanted notice for 10 to 15 new space fliers was posted Tuesday on www.usajobs.com, the federal government's employment Web site.

Several thousand people are expected to apply by the July 1 deadline. They will join a similar number who've applied to NASA in previous years and now must update their applications and convert them from paper to the new electronic format.

After four spaceflights herself, Ochoa, a former electrical engineer, knows the appeal.

"Something that deals with exploration, that is trying to push not only our country but the world in a direction that it has not been before, that looks beyond yourself and your own community, is very appealing," Ochoa said. "Then there is just the experience of being in space, of looking down at the Earth and experiencing weightlessness — that is just a very special experience."

NASA offers a starting annual salary of $59,493 to $130,257, depending on qualifications and experience.

With the shuttle fleet headed for retirement in 2010, the newest astronauts will train to travel on Russian Soyuz capsules for missions to the space station. Astronauts have been doing so since the mid-1990s, when the U.S. began collaborating with the Russians.

The U.S.-led space station international partnership intends to increase to six from three the number of astronauts living aboard the outpost in 2009, creating more flight opportunities.

New shuttle in the works

NASA's new Orion moon ship, the shuttle's replacement, will not be ready for space station flights until 2015, unless the White House and Congress change funding levels.

Orion is considered a centerpiece of a lunar initiative announced by President Bush three years ago. He directed NASA to lead an international effort to reprise and expand on the Apollo missions of the late 1960s and early '70s by establishing a permanently staffed lunar base. The base would serve as a training ground for missions to Mars and other deep space destinations.

NASA's astronaut corps includes 91 people considered eligible for flight assignments. Fifteen have not flown or been assigned to upcoming shuttle and station missions.

Some corps members are expected to leave the program because there will be fewer chances to fly after the shuttle fleet is mothballed and before the first Orion missions.

Other current astronauts are expected to remain past 2010 in hopes of drawing a moon mission or to participate in the development of Orion and a yet-to-be funded lunar lander.

Announcement in 2009

The decision to hire 10 to 15 new astronauts was based on NASA's best estimate of the attrition rate and funding, spokeswoman Kylie Clem said.

After the application deadline, the agency will invite the best job candidates to Houston for interviews with a selection panel and medical screening.

NASA is reassessing its psychological screening process to address concerns raised by incidents this year involving the astronaut corps.

One involved the arrest of astronaut Lisa Nowak at the Orlando, Fla., airport. She was charged after a confrontation with another woman over the affections of astronaut Bill Oefelein. In response to the widely publicized incident, NASA asked an outside panel of behavioral health experts to examine astronaut behavior.

The newest astronauts are to be announced in spring 2009 and report to the JSC the following August to begin two years of training.

NASA is seeking pilots and crewmembers such as scientists, engineers and teachers. Pilot applicants must have at 1,000 hours at the controls of a fighter jet or in command of a larger jet aircraft. Military test pilots will have an advantage.

After two years of basic training, the new astronauts will become eligible for assignment to a mission. But past practice indicates they will first draw assignments supporting more senior astronauts and face at least another year of mission-specific training before they head for the launch pad.

mark.carreau@chron.com