By the fall in the ranks of the Russian astronauts will not remain soldiers
By the fall, Russian military cosmonauts will be dismissed from the ranks of the Armed Forces, after which only civilians will remain in the Russian cosmonaut detachment. But they will be more.
"To date, members of the Russian cosmonaut corps have been discharged from the ranks of the Armed Forces. An order to dismiss five more people is expected in August, after which the military will not remain in the detachment," Interfax was told at the Cosmonaut Training Center (CPC).
They explained that after removing the epaulets, the astronauts would write applications for their admission to the cosmonaut corps as civilian specialists and remain in their previous positions. At the same time the number of astronauts will increase.
"On July 31, seven test cosmonaut test candidates passed the state exam. The final decision on awarding them the title and enrollment in the team. The Interdepartmental Qualification Commission will take August 3," the CPC said. They noted that, most likely, all seven candidates will be enrolled in the cosmonaut corps.
In late February, the CPC (Star City) was excluded from the list of organizations in which military service is provided. The military officers of the Center were offered either to leave the service or to be transferred to other parts of the Armed Forces.
The media reported that the Cosmonaut Training Center could lose more than 200 military personnel in the state: instructors, pilots and technicians serving Aviation CPC, as well as astronauts wearing epaulets.
At the same time, sources at the Center noted that the dismissal threatens the most prepared and experienced personnel of the CPC, including instructors who prepare astronauts for flights, and pilots who deliver the crews to the Baikonur cosmodrome.
In early July, a member of the famous first cosmonaut detachment, twice Hero of the USSR Alexei Leonov, in an interview, attacked with wrathful criticism of the authorities, who, in his words, are in fact ruining the national astronautics. Leonov expressed the opinion that the Ministry of Defense made a serious mistake by actually eliminating several famous flight schools. And in a short time it can reach the point that migrant workers will be sent into space.
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