Russia & the ISS
Discussion
Now that Russia Putin has done what they've done, how does it/will it work with the ISS?
IINM, there's 7 astronauts up there now, 2 of which are Russian.
Given the way the entire world is 'cancelling' anything Russian, does this mean no more Russian Soyuz 'ferry' to the ISS for westerners?
Do we (the west) need that ferry anymore?
Is the Russian space programme dead?
IINM, there's 7 astronauts up there now, 2 of which are Russian.
Given the way the entire world is 'cancelling' anything Russian, does this mean no more Russian Soyuz 'ferry' to the ISS for westerners?
Do we (the west) need that ferry anymore?
Is the Russian space programme dead?
As a minimum the deals to ride share on each others rockets are coming to an end.
The more basic issue is that the two parts of the station are quite intimately connected. The Russian section is the only part of the station to have reaction control thrusters, the US portion of the station generates the vast majority of the stations power.
If they were to separate the sections the US could potentially add reaction control thrusters by permanently attaching a space craft to the station in lieu of a dedicated module. The Russians would be more in a pickle to add solar power as an expedient.
The more basic issue is that the two parts of the station are quite intimately connected. The Russian section is the only part of the station to have reaction control thrusters, the US portion of the station generates the vast majority of the stations power.
If they were to separate the sections the US could potentially add reaction control thrusters by permanently attaching a space craft to the station in lieu of a dedicated module. The Russians would be more in a pickle to add solar power as an expedient.
Can't find the article again now, but I read a piece over the weekend saying NASA were already due to test boosting the station using a Cygnus capsule which recently docked, so there is already a planned way around that issue if Russia pull out, but Cygnus launches on Antares, which uses Russian engines and the first stage is made in Ukraine, although NG say they already have everything for 2 more launches. They have launched Cygnus on Atlas before, which also uses Russian engines, ULA have several engines in stock but long term were planning to move the thier new Vulcan Centaur powered by Blue Origin's engines...which don't work yet.
NASA and JAXA were planning on extending the life of the ISS, and the Russians were already talking about pulling out, so presumably there are plans in place for operating within Russian involvement.
NASA contracted SpaceX for another 3 Crew Dragon missions the other week, and JAXA have a couple of HTV missions to the ISS in the schedule using thier new H3 rocket, which I think is all Japanese built.
NASA and JAXA were planning on extending the life of the ISS, and the Russians were already talking about pulling out, so presumably there are plans in place for operating within Russian involvement.
NASA contracted SpaceX for another 3 Crew Dragon missions the other week, and JAXA have a couple of HTV missions to the ISS in the schedule using thier new H3 rocket, which I think is all Japanese built.
ULA have enough Russian-built engines for their remaining 24 Atlas V flights apparently. SpaceX lobbied to get ULA banned from using Russian hardware on national security missions. This seems to have done them a favour as it turned out. Funny old world.
SpaceX’s Dragon can’t boost the ISS currently, but that may be something a software update could add if necessary. Dragon’s main thrusters fire out at an angle, so not ideal for this kind of use. Still doable I’m sure.
SpaceX’s Dragon can’t boost the ISS currently, but that may be something a software update could add if necessary. Dragon’s main thrusters fire out at an angle, so not ideal for this kind of use. Still doable I’m sure.
Sadly, the war of words has started.
I can imagine, despite protocols to avoid it, that the cosmonauts will be being told not to cooperate, etc.
Very sad.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/a-former-nasa...
I can imagine, despite protocols to avoid it, that the cosmonauts will be being told not to cooperate, etc.
Very sad.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/a-former-nasa...
dukeboy749r said:
And goes against the spirit of cooperation that has, until now, previously been sacrosanct onboard.
Im sure the other crew are aware of the position the Russians find themselves in,and will not wish them to do anything that would compromise their safety when they return to Russia.Shame
Talksteer said:
The Russian section is the only part of the station to have reaction control thrusters
Interestingly, though designed and built in Russia, the core Zarya module was paid for by the US ( $220M ) and was used for attitude control prior to the Zvezda module's arrival...I'm guessing the US wouldn't be too happy if Roscosmos took away a module they paid for.Unfortunately Roscosmos boss Dmitry Rogozin appears to be doing his best to throw away 30+ years of hard work building up co-operation, seemingly forgetting how desperate Russia was to sell their technology and rocket hardware to the West to prop up their failing economy after the collapse of the Soviet Union
The US also had a backup in case Zvezda failed to launch - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interim_Control_Modu... - though it would take a couple of years to refurbish and launch it
Edited by MartG on Saturday 12th March 16:03
It's quite tragic that after all of this collaboration - way back to the Apollo Soyuz docking and latterly the ISS, that because of some a
hole of a guy on Earth we are (seemingly) prepared to take this beef into Space and continue to sow division instead of look at what we might achieve, collectively.
hole of a guy on Earth we are (seemingly) prepared to take this beef into Space and continue to sow division instead of look at what we might achieve, collectively. dukeboy749r said:
It's quite tragic that after all of this collaboration - way back to the Apollo Soyuz docking and latterly the ISS, that because of some ahole of a guy on Earth we are (seemingly) prepared to take this beef into Space and continue to sow division instead of look at what we might achieve, collectively.
Apollo-Soyuz was a one-off collaboration which did not really lead to anything. It was a product of Nixon's attempt at having a legacy of rapprochement with the USSR and did not really lead to any further collaborative efforts. In fact, by the time it flew in 1975, the relationship between the USA and the USSR was beginning to harden again and by the early 1980s it was decidedly hostilehole of a guy on Earth we are (seemingly) prepared to take this beef into Space and continue to sow division instead of look at what we might achieve, collectively. The current era of collaboration came out of Russia's desperation to keep their space programme functioning in the face of the economic and political collapse of the Soviet Union. That has been well and truly destroyed by Putin.
Eric Mc said:
The current era of collaboration came out of Russia's desperation to keep their space programme functioning in the face of the economic and political collapse of the Soviet Union. That has been well and truly destroyed by Putin.
And the US's desire to avoid a lot of unemployed rocket scientists looking for new work in other countries.
A question mark is also not just for the ISS but the future of space travel as with the Russians scientists who may get severely limited interaction with the international community in terms of the development of state of the art technology for future space fairings may be left out of the loop.
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