"...and all we can say is Merci beaucoup" but now we will have to say it in Russian

It’s…It’s…embarrassing when.. when …uh… Europeans come over here, they all speak English, they speak French, they speak German. And then we go over to Europe and all we can say is Merci beaucoup. ~ Barack Husein Obama

English is the primary language in over 45 countries and is spoken extensively in other countries.  This compares to 27 for French, 20 for Spanish and 17 for Arabic. This domination is unique in history. Speakers of languages like French, Spanish and Arabic may disagree, but English is on its way to becoming the world's unofficial international language. Mandarin (Chinese) is spoken by more people, but English is now the most widespread of the world's languages. (Source: The Origin and History of The English Language)

Somewhere in my distant past I read where the French were jealous that English surpassed them as most often used diplomatic language.  And since the introduction of air travel English has become the international language of pilots.  Astronautically speaking, English is the dominate language beyond the atmosphere of the earth.  

Uh, oh…what’s that you say?  It’s not anymore.

Apparently Mr. Obama has dictated his anti-English (what I really mean is, anti-American) rant into the prerequisites for astronaut qualification:

Will English no longer be spoken in space?  (from Dictionary.com)
Earlier this week, NASA announced that it is looking for new astronauts. Though NASA has sent its last shuttle into space, it will continue to send astronauts to the International Space Station through a collaboration with the Russian Federal Space Agency. NASA has promised to help staff the International Space Station (ISS) through at least 2020. So the ISS will continue to host astronauts from around the world, including Japan and Europe in addition to Russia and the United States. Many languages are spoken on board, and the spoken dialogue computer on the ISS, named Clarissa, was programmed to understand both English and Russian. But English may become a thing of the past in the cosmos. NASA is taking international cooperation a step further. The new class of astronauts will be required to learn Russian before they go into space.