NASA announced the reduction of the astronaut squad to 44 people
The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has taken care of reducing the number of astronauts. This is reported by Futurism with reference to the NASA report.
The document noted that currently there are 44 people in the astronaut squad. This contrasts with the figure of 2000, when NASA had 150 astronauts. The lack of specialists may interfere with NASA's ground operations and will not allow replacements in the crews.
The publication suggested that the reduction in the number of astronauts could cast doubt on NASA's plans to return to the moon in the coming years.
The reduction in the number of astronauts was caused by the retirement of specialists. Between 2004 and 2012, approximately 10 astronauts left each year. The Futurism notes that a new set of astronauts will stop this process.
Earlier, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson stated about the desire to meet with the head of the state corporation "Roscosmos" Dmitry Rogozin.