Previous Experience: Astronaut

Tuesday, 05 July 2011 | by Pat's Picks

$56 million per seat. After Friday, that’ll be the cheapest ticket to space an American astronaut can get. The Washington Post devotes its science section to NASA’s final shuttle launch, which is scheduled to take place this Friday. As the end of an era draws near, astronauts are trying to figure out what their next step will be. Hitching a ride to the International Space Station on Russia’s Soyuz Shuttle is pricey—NASA expects to shell out $56 million per seat—and the wait is long, which means the agency’s 59 active-duty, non-retiring astronauts are in the midst of a career crisis of sorts.

Current astronauts aren’t the only ones having a hard time dealing with the end of the shuttle era. The Post says the final launch of Atlantis has been “clouded by rancor,” as some of the “most famous astronauts on the planet” have become NASA’s most vocal critics.