The ongoing shared commitment between Russia and the U.S. for the International Space Station has come under intense pressure due to politics both on and above the Earth.
NASA has a plan in place to remove all astronauts from the station if Russia goes, according to a report. According to nine anonymous sources, the U.S. will have to scuttle the lab many years ahead of its scheduled obsolescence.
According to the report, U.S. officials began drafting up these plans late last year.
The report gives a better idea of what's going on between the U.S. and Russia. NASA and the White House have talked about the possibility of Russia leaving the International Space Station, but have never talked about what that would mean for the operation.
Both the U.S. and Russian technology were interdependent on the design of the space station. The International Space Station is supported by a vast international group of partners. The crew on the U.S. and Russian segments of the space station have to maintain their systems on a daily basis.
Progress vehicles currently provide the propulsion needed by the space station to perform sudden bursts of quick maneuvers. Day-to-day orientation is controlled by U.S. gyroscopes. Life support systems are supplied to the station by both countries.
Private companies might be needed to support NASA and the White House. Boeing is looking at ways to control the International Space Station without Russian help, according to a report. There was a recent test of the Cygnus freighter. cosmonauts do a lot of work to keep the station up and running.
Russia is working on a space station that it hopes to have up and running by the year 2028, while China is building a space station.
NASA wouldn't comment on the specifics of Reuter's claims The International Space Station must always have plans, both normal and contingency. The agency is constantly looking for new capabilities on the space station and planning for a seamless transition to commercially operated destinations in low- Earth orbit. NASA can focus on exploration further out in to the universe.
The 20-year partnership between NASA and Roscosmos has been tested recently with accusations and condemnations flying back and forth for years. Russian officials made a shocking announcement in July that they were leaving the International Space Station after four years. The Kremlin said it isn't ready to take their toys home yet.
The situation was not helped by the bluster and constant animosity of the previous head of the Russian space agency. The Russian government announced on July 15 that they were replacing him with Yury Borisov. The question is how different Borisov will be from his predecessor.
World powers aren't the only ones using the space station Shortly after NASA released new requirements that all missions to the station be headed by astronauts, a private spaceflight company went there and took a trip. Private companies' designs for new stations won't be ready until after the International Space Station is retired, according to NASA.
A newly launched Russian spy satellite may be following a US military satellite.
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