Air Force Astronaut Selections

<p>Thought I would provide a little more background information. These are the number of AF and Navy candidates selected in each astronaut class in the Shuttle Era (More about why I chose the shuttle era astronauts below). Note that these are the branches, not the school graduated from.</p>

<p>1978: Navy 9 ; Air Force 10.
1980: Navy 3; Air Force 6.
1984: Navy 5; Air Force 5.
1985: Navy 3; Air Force 3.
1987: Navy 3; Air Force 4.
1990: Navy 1; Air Force 7.
1992: Navy 6; Air Force 2.
1995: Navy 5; Air Force 5.
1996: Navy 10; Air Force 5.
1998: Navy 7; Air Force 2.
2000: Navy 3; Air Force 7.
2004: Navy 1; Air Force 1.</p>

<p>Why I chose the Shuttle era… it relates to the USNA vs. USAFA count. USNA has had more astronauts total, but when you factor in the “head start” that USNA had (because the first USAFA class graduated in 1959 no USAFA grads were at the point in their careers to be Mercury, Gemini or Apollo astronauts) the USNA in the Shuttle era has still had more, but only by slim margin.</p>

<p>By the way, I am not trying to start an interservice rivalry thing here. I have worked with astronauts from all branches and have been impressed with them all (even the West Pointers) :slight_smile: </p>

<p>Showing my colors a little bit, I DO get tired of hearing how many more USNA astronauts there have been than USAFA - people seem not to take into account the head start factor.</p>