Astronauts cooling their heels on the ground

An interesting article carried by Yahoo and AP highlights NASA's post-Columbia realities for astronauts waiting to fly into space, and what may become of their futures with the agency.

The space shuttle fleet has been grounded for the last two years, and the shuttles are scheduled to be phased out beginning in five years' time. The coming several years will mean not every astronaut will get to fly in the foreseeable future. It is probable that any new astronaut classes selected by NASA in the next few years may be chosen to fill the slots of those who gave up waiting for flights, rather than to meet an increased mission schedule.