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Could Russia crash the ISS? Nearly three decades of close collaboration in space between Russia and the western world seems to be coming to an end. With increasing tensions over Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, Russia has arguably threatened to crash the International Space Station and refuse to launch satellites for western countries. A few months ago, Russia blew up one of its own defunct satellites, creating space junk that threatened the safety of astronauts at the ISS. So how is the war likely to impact on operations in space going forward, and what are the consequences? Aggression in...

You may have noticed that relations between the Russian space agency Roscosmos and NASA have soured somewhat in the last few weeks, largely due to threats made by the head of Rosmoscos to crash the International Space Station (ISS) into Earth, the Russian space agency holding the launch of OneWeb to ransom, and — first and foremost — the invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces. NASA as an organization has been calm and controlled during the tensions, stressing cooperation on the ISS as well as other projects. However, retired American astronaut Scott Kelly, free from having to be diplomatic, has...

Dmitry Rogozin, director-general of Roscosmos, announced that Russia would be halting the delivery of rocket engines to the US, saying "let them fly into space on their brooms," according to RIA Novosti.Rogozin added that Russia would be ending cooperation with the US on experiments on the ISS. He added that the priority of the country's space program would be adjusted to focus on satellites for defense interests. Rogozin announced as well on Thursday that Roscosmos would be freezing cooperation with the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in a letter to the administrator of the DLR, Anke Kaysser-Pyzalla. The DLR announced on...

The head of the Russian space agency warned the International Space Station (ISS) is at risk of deorbiting and crashing if cooperation between the US and Russia in space collapses. Should the US cut off Russia’s access to certain space technologies needed to keep the ISS operational, the result could involve the Russians allowing the station to deorbit and crash. No other than the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, responded to a tweet from Roscosmos Director General Dmitry Rogozin that read: “If you block cooperation with us, who will save the ISS from an uncontrolled deorbit and fall into the...

The head of the Russian space agency has just threatened the US and NASA with some serious repercussions if the Biden Administration follows through with sanctions that would impact the cooperation between the two countries in space. Should the US cut off Russia’s access to certain space technologies needed to keep the International Space Station operational, then the end result might involve the Russians allowing the International Space Station to simply tumble out of orbit and come rocketing back toward Earth. Russia is a key player in the 15-nation partnership that has kept the ISS orbiting Earth for 23 years,...

The crew, known as Crew 4, will be the fourth group of astronauts on the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft mission to the ISS, and Watkins hopes her voyage into space will provide inspiration for others... ...Jessica Watkins will join the crew and live aboard the ISS from next April. The Maryland-native will spend spend six months there as a mission specialist in what will be her first mission in space. ..Jessica has experience of working in astronomy-based labs, as she spent time working with the science team for the Mars Science Laboratory rover Curiosity, while also gaining a postdoctoral fellow...

U.S. officials say Russia destroyed a retired satellite in an anti-satellite weapon test, creating a cloud of debris that prompted the seven-member crew of the International Space Station to take shelter in their Crew Dragon and Soyuz spacecraft early Monday as a precaution. "I'm outraged by this unconscionable action," NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement.... State Department spokesman Ned Price said the Russian Federation "recklessly conducted a destructive satellite test of a direct ascent anti-satellite missile against one of its own satellites." "The test has so far generated over 1,500 pieces of trackable orbital debris and hundreds of...

Seven astronauts on the International Space Station were forced to take shelter in their transport spacecraft early Monday (Nov. 15) when the station passed uncomfortably closed to orbital debris, according to reports.

A Russian actress and her director-cameraman, wrapping up a 12-day movie shoot aboard the International Space Station, returned to Earth Sunday and promptly filmed a few additional scenes that will be part of the film's conclusion. With cameras rolling, actress Julia Peresild, playing the role of a surgeon sent to the station to treat a critically ill cosmonaut, was pulled from the Soyuz descent module and carried to a nearby recliner where she pretended to be just back from her make-believe mission. Soyuz commander Oleg Novitskiy, who was wrapping up a 191-day stay in space, played the patient during shooting...

A Russian spacecraft pushed the International Space Station out of position on Friday morning, prompting astronauts to go into emergency mode. It's the second time Russian hardware has caused such an incident since July. Cosmonaut Oleg Novitsky was conducting engine tests on the Soyuz spaceship, which is docked to the ISS, on Friday morning when its thrusters fired too aggressively

A smoke alarm sounded Thursday in Russia's segment of the International Space Station (ISS) and astronauts smelled "burning" on board, Russia's space agency and NASA said. The incident, which the Russian space agency Roscosmos said happened at 01:55 GMT ahead of a scheduled spacewalk, is the latest in a string of problems to spur safety concerns over conditions on the Russian segment. "A smoke detector was triggered in the Zvezda service module of the Russian segment of the International Space Station during automatic battery charging, and an alarm went off," Roscosmos said in a statement. French astronaut Thomas Pesquet said...

The claims made by Russian media that NASA Astronaut Serena Aunon-Chancellor had a nervous breakdown and damaged a Russian spacecraft to get home are not credible, Kathy Lueders, who is leading NASA's human spaceflight program, said at a press conference on Friday. Russia's TASS recently published a story, citing an unnamed source in the Russian Space Agency Roscosmos, that claimed Aunon-Chancellor had an emotional breakdown in space and she made a microfracture in the Russian spacecraft to return early during a mission in 2018. "Absolutely," Lueders said when asked whether NASA will defend its astronaut. "Our NASA crews perform their...

The International Space Station consists of 16 linked habitats, strung with solar arrays, space debris shielding, and a robotic arm, all spread over an area about the size of a football field. Yesterday, the entire assembly began to tilt and tumble after a newly-arrived Russian module malfunctioned and began firing its thrusters uncontrollably. Only the rapid response of flight controllers in Moscow and Houston, and of the 10 astronauts onboard, kept the $1 billion space lab on course. “We proceeded to do headstands and cartwheels,” Zebulon Scoville, a flight director on duty in Houston during the episode, said in a...

After a 36 hour phasing profile, the S.S. Ellison Onizuka cargo ship, part of Northrop Grumman’s NG-16 mission, has arrived at the International Space Station (ISS). Safely in the grip of Canadarm2, Cygnus was attached to the nadir port of the Unity (Node-1) module for the multi-month cargo delivery and removal process. Delivering a total of 3,723 kg of crew supplies, unpressurized cargo, science experiments, spacewalk equipment, station hardware, and computer equipment, the NG-16 mission is the fifth of six guaranteed flights to the station under the CRS2.. While only one flight, remains per the original CRS2 guarantee, NASA has...

NASA is trying to figure out how to dispose of the International Space Station, in the eventual — and fiery — conclusion to decades of invaluable research in microgravity... Nobody knows precisely when exactly the aging orbital outpost’s end will come. A NASA safety panel did approve a plan back in 2019, according NASASpaceflight, to have at least two Russian-made Progress spacecraft drag the 450-ton structure into the Earth’s atmosphere, where it will turn into a giant flaming ball of molten metal and other materials. NASA and its international partners have yet to fully commit to a specific plan. “NASA...

Yesterday's unexpected tilting of the International Space Station was caused by a software glitch, according to Russian space agency Roscosmos. A new Russian module dubbed Nauka arrived at the space station Thursday morning (July 29). In development for more than a decade, Nauka is designed to host science experiments, anchor visiting vehicles and serve as a gateway for spacewalks. However, while the module's arrival appeared to go smoothly, about three hours after docking, the module unexpectedly began firing its thrusters in an incident that caused the space station to tilt from its typical position for about 45 minutes in what...

The first glitch in Nauka’s journey happened yesterday, when the spacecraft didn’t complete its first orbit-raising burn. This meant that the uncrewed Nauka wasn’t on track to actually intercept the ISS, which it’s scheduled to dock with on Thursday, July 29. The problem was attributed to a software issue in a computer aboard Nauka, which prevented the spacecraft’s main engines from firing. Nauka’s team was able to manage a remote course correction, but a second bout of course corrections were deemed necessary, and scheduled for today. One early report from journalist Anatoly Zak indicated that one of the spacecraft’s engines...

MOSCOW. July 16 (Interfax) - The Russian government has approved talks between NPO Energomash and America's Orbital Sciences LLC on a contract for the use of the RD181M engine in the Antares launch vehicle, under a directive published on the official website for legal information. "To accept a proposal by the Roscosmos State Corporation for Space Activities, which was agreed with concerned federal executive authorities, on conducting negotiation between the joint-stock company NPO Energomash named after Academic V.P. Glushko and Orbital Sciences LLC (United States of America) on the conclusion of a contract for the use of the RD181M liquid-propellant...

Two weeks ago, the long-awaited report by the Pentagon on 144 instances of UFOs, or as they say Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon, concludes that 143 of the cases looked at defied any sort of earthly explanation. They could not be connected to any military or technology program to any government of any nation on the face of the Earth. In short, the Pentagon has just admitted that UFOs existing outside of human technology do in fact exist. And boy, do they ever. Objects have been flying over the International Space Station, or ISS, for many years now, and many times that...

A piece of space junk smacked into the robotic arm on the International Space Station, but near-term operations should not be affected, according to the agencies involved. Robotic operators noticed a hole in the station's Canadarm2 provided by the Canadian Space Agency, which has been in service in orbit since 2001, during a routine inspection on May 12, the CSA officials said in a blog post Friday (May 28). Officials called the hole a "lucky strike" given the relatively small size of the arm, which is 57.7 feet (17.6 meters) long and has a diameter of just 14 inches (35...