Posted on 03/12/2022 6:03:31 AM PST by blam
Two decades of space cooperation between the U.S. and Russia could be coming to an end after the U.S. and its allies imposed crippling sanctions on the country. The Russian government announced Friday that it might abandon a U.S. astronaut set to return to Earth.
Fox News reports that the Russian Space Agency head, Dmitry Rogozin, has “threatened to leave” U.S. astronaut Mark Vande Hei aboard the International Space Station (ISS), who is scheduled to return to Earth on a Russian spacecraft by the end of the month.
JUST IN: Russia threatens to abandon ‘American Astronaut’ in spacepic.twitter.com/ybTrf8TR8e
— Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) March 11, 2022
“Rogozin posted a threatening video on social media casting doubt over the astronaut’s safety. He also warned that without the help from Russia to move the ISS away from space junk, the station would crash into the U.S.,” reports the Express.
Relations in space are souring as the U.S. and its Western allies hammer Russia’s economy with devastating sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine. This angered Moscow so much that they threatened to deorbit the ISS last month.
Former U.S. astronaut Scott Kelly recently told ABC News that Russia’s threat to the safety of Americans on ISS is “not really based on reality.”
“We do have the ability to control the orbit of the space station independent of the Russian space agency, so I don’t really see that happening,” Kelly said.
Even if the Russians were to abandon the U.S. astronaut and ISS altogether, Elon Musk has suggested his space company SpaceX could keep the ISS from deorbiting and even shuttle astronauts and cargo to and from Earth.
Vande Hei holds the record for longest space flight (at 355 days). It remains to be seen in three weeks if the Russians will allow him to board the spacecraft bound for Kazakhstan with two Russian cosmonauts. If not, maybe Musk can send a rocket with a Dragon capsule to the ISS.
Things are so bad between the U.S. and Russia that Rogozin ordered flags of the U.S. and its allies to be removed off Russian rockets.
Don’t have to rely on Soviets. That’s the whole point of SpaceX…launch on demand services.
No, he’s not (a bargaining chip) because short of the next Soyuz going up & ramming the ISS, Vande Hei is not in any danger. SpaceX can surely get a supply run up to the ISS in a couple weeks (and the ISS has reserve supplies anyway), and a crew mission in a month or so. The real question is, if things get tense up there, what to do with the 2 Russian cosmonauts presently on board the ISS, while ensuring no other Russians can board.
Fortunately, we have a brand new rocket. I think it will be the largest in the world...15% more thrust than the Saturn-5.
On the SLS everything gets thrown away every launch except for the Orion capsule.
That’s why the SLS is projected to cost $2 Billion per launch vs $2 Million for Starship.
One Thousand times less!
"Screw those commie bastards and screw their wussy little space station!"
Everyone who thinks that Musk can do it has zero idea what it takes to prepare for a space mission. Add to that, his craft has never flown to that orbit or docked with anything let alone something occupied with people.
WRONG
Crew Dragon has flown several missions and docked to the ISS starting with DEMO -2 in May 2020, AXIOM 1 with 4 private crew members is scheduled to launch end of this month, followed by CREW DRAGON 4 in middle of April
Constraints is preparing the booster and space on launch pad, Musk has two, LC 39 and SLC 40 Number of missions scheduled in next few weeks
How the hell do you negotiate with a party that reassures one day they won’t invade, and the next launches a major invasion? The only possible choice is to chop down, even if it takes a lot of chops, that capability of invasion.
I’d also point out that President Trump quite effectively personally cowed the Taliban, while he was in office. Of course that didn’t hold up once Biden was in.
I do agree on one point though: Russia is going to find out that “you will get what you give”. It will take time, but, circumstance will force stronger leadership in the West. Karma really is a bitch, Mr. Putin.
“How the hell do you negotiate with a party that reassures one day they won’t invade, and the next launches a major invasion?”
Context is important. Russia had troops mobilized on the border for weeks.
That is when you begin negotiations—before things get out of hand.
Imho Putin invaded because he concluded that the clowns in DC were more interested in name calling, finger pointing and virtue signaling than serious negotiations.
I believe the SRBs are reusable, since they’re the same one used on the shuttle, with 2 extra segments, each.
“Context” is that Xi asked Putin to wait until after the Olympics. The “negotiations” were a ruse.
Putin invaded because it is part of his oft stated desire / goal, and specifically because he thought: the West in general and the US in particular was politically weak, he could repeat past adventures, and that Ukraine would crumble in a few days.
Well, he was right about one.
The “negotiations” consisted of the US calling Putin names.
That made them a certain “ruse”.
Musk can do it. Once the Russians leave, never allow them back. We can then develop an expansion and make it a gas station for colonizing and mining the moon.
From launching from the moon we have access to the rest of the solar system.
I would definitely hang on to them. I have a “First Day of Issue” stamp for Apollo 8, and one for Apollo 11, still on their respective envelopes. Got em in the mail back then….🙂
Sounds like a job for Mr. Musk.
Paging Elon Musk, please pick up the white courtesy phone.in the lobby.
5.56mm
no Rogozin did the head of Roscosmos. he is the one who is talking out of his ass, the astro came up on on a soyus ans will return.
spacex has been delivering astros to the ISS for a while now with Crew Dragon. the supply dragon has been going to the station for a long time..
Are you insane? SpaceX has sent four crewed missions too the ISS and just got a contract for 3 more crew-7,8,9 missions too the ISS.
https://www.space.com/spacex-crew-3-dragon-space-station-docking-success
https://www.space.com/nasa-orders-more-spacex-crew-dragon-launches
Musk also sends cargo on the regular to the ISS and has the data to prove that CargoDragon can be used just like Soyuz to boost and station keep for USE as a population module.
Nope. Not according to this. One extra segment each.
The major physical difference between the shuttle and SLS boosters is the addition of a fifth propellant segment to the four-segment shuttle booster, allowing NASA’s new launcher to lift more weight than the shuttle. Additionally, the SLS booster will be optimized for a single-use, while the shuttle booster was designed to be reused.
American broomsticks flying for freedom! SPACEX is sending its fifth crew.mission to the ISS and this one is all private that’s a first for any space agency. It’s balderdash that SPACEX hasn’t sent astronauts to space let alone the ISS they are leading the whole planet in human space flight now not only in tempo but also technology. All but the second stage is reusable and they could for a 1000 kg weight penalty bring those home too they choose not to because it’s cheaper the throw away the second stage than give up 1000_1500kg of revenue generating payloads on every launch they mass produce the second stage Henry Ford style.
Musk is a modernday Edison.
https://techcrunch.com/2022/03/09/spacex-launches-48-more-starlink-satellites-on-an-american-broomstick/
“The next SpaceX launch is not a Starlink mission, but a crewed one. Scheduled for launch on March 30, the Axiom-1 mission will be the first all-private flight to the International Space Station (ISS). SpaceX already has quite a bit of experience on the crewed-mission front — it’s already flown four NASA crews to the ISS, plus the Inspiration 4 mission, whose all-civilian crew orbited the Earth in a Crew Dragon capsule for several days.”
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