Answer:
The change that occurred in 2011 is the retirement of space shuttles by NASA. This made U.S astronauts to always demand the help of another nation to get to space.
Therefore, for the first time in 50 years, U.S astronauts became hitchhikers. The Russian Space Agency became the source of hitch riding in order to get to space. To get to the International Space Station (ISS), astronauts move with a Russian built Soyuz rocket. This had led to the U.S government paying the Russian government millions of dollars in order to get to space.
Step-by-step explanation:
It was revealed that it costs about $60 million dollars to send just one astronaut to space. This is as a result of NASA's space shuttle retirement. Actually, it's said that the amount spent is less expensive compared to the proposed American space flight program.