[snowwrestler]

> HOWEVER - there is almost no chance of him ever piloting a US spacecraft based largely on where the manned space program is.

I personally do not think this is true. There are at least 5 spacecraft under development right now that would need pilots: NASA Orion, Boeing CST, SpaceX Dragon, Blue Origin, and Virgin Galactic. Even if some of these fold, it still seems likely that at least 2-3 spacecraft would need crews at the same time. This is on top of ISS crew commitments.

I think we're in a lull right this minute, as we were after Apollo, but I think it's easy to mistake that for the future. If your friend will be still be in flying shape in 5-10-15 years, I predict there will be a number of opportunities to fly into space.

I do wonder about the future of non-pilot, non-engineer astronauts. Aside from the ISS, all the craft flying or under development would seem to demand a small crew of engineers. As opposed to the Space Shuttle program, which had enough seats for teachers, chemists, etc. to qualify and fly. For example a woman I knew in college flew on the Space Shuttle with a bachelor of geology and a few years teaching high school.