One Type of Federal Job That's Definitely Being Downsized

In 2001, NASA employed 150 astronauts. By 2009, the Washington Post reports today, the number had dropped to 92. And now it stands at 61 -- with two more astronauts about to retire. With the space shuttle program ending and no guarantee of when Americans will be flying aboard U.S.-built spacecraft again, the astronaut corps is dwindling.

Unti now, would-be astronauts were all but ensured a trip to space (although some of them had to wait a long time for their journeys). Now it's not so clear. And in the near term, astronauts traveling to the space station will make their journeys aboard Russian spacecraft.

That hasn't dampened interest in the space program, though. The Post notes that in selecting the nine members of its 2009 class of astronauts, NASA had to evaluate 3,500 applicants.

Likewise, Americans seem to think that space exploration is a worthwhile endeavor. A new study by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press finds that 58 percent of Americans think it's essential that the United States continue to be a world leader in space exploration. And 55 percent say the space program is a good investment -- although that's down from its high in the early 1980s.