It’s sort of irrelevant- we are pulling back from space exploration.
Any “crisis” involving the station will be excellent justification for further pullbacks until we achieve the goal of the left to not waste money in space when there are human problems on Earth to throw taxpayer money at.
The Russians will soon have a strong space partner in China (and maybe India and Japan too), so any American problems will be incentive to partner-up elsewhere.
As we officially announce the end of our manned lunar program, the Chinese are still moving toward a permanent manned lunar base, with Mars aspirations. The Japanese are thinking about Mars.
We are so proud of our moonwalks- imagine how it will feel when a Chinese astronaut puts one of our abandoned Hasselblad cameras on ebay!
US and Russia are still cutting age in a few decades. No Japan or China has American or Russian technology to travel for Mars, neither money US have to finance that.
From the campaign trail, February 2008...
"I will not weaponize space"
"I will cut investments in unproven missile defense systems"
Article: Obama Pledges Cuts in Missile Defense, Space, and Nuclear Weapons Programs:
http://missilethreat.com/archives/id.7086/detail.asp
_____________________________________________________
2008 Pentagon Report (March 2008):
China's Growing Military Space Power
By Leonard David
Special Correspondent, SPACE.com
March 6, 2008
GOLDEN, Colorado — A just-released Pentagon report spotlights a growing U.S. military concern that China is developing a multi- dimensional program to limit or prevent the use of space-based assets by its potential adversaries during times of crisis or conflict.
Furthermore, last year's successful test by China of a direct-ascent, anti-satellite (ASAT) weapon to destroy its own defunct weather satellite, the report adds, underscores that country's expansion from the land, air, and sea dimensions of the traditional battlefield into the space and cyber-space domains.
Although China's commercial space program has utility for non- military research, that capability demonstrates space launch and control know-how that have direct military application. Even the Chang'e 1 — the Chinese lunar probe now circling the Moon — is flagged in the report as showcasing China's ability "to conduct complicated space maneuvers — a capability which has broad implications for military counterspace operations."
To read the entire publication [29.67MB/pdf], see U.S. Dept of Defense:
http://www.defenselink.mil/pubs/pdfs/China_Military_Report_08.pdf
_____________________________________________________
From the Sino-Russian Joint Statement of April 23, 1997:
"The two sides [China and Russia] shall, in the spirit of partnership, strive to promote the multipolarization of the world and the establishment of a new international order."
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/HI29Ag01.html
_____________________________________________________
"Joint war games are a logical outcome of the Sino-Russian Friendship and Cooperation Treaty signed in 2001, and reflect the shared worldview and growing economic ties between the two Eastern Hemisphere giants."