Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine Strains International Space Station Partnership

The world was watching when Russia launched a full-scale military invasion of Ukraine. The International Space Station had seven crew members who were watching, as well as a much smaller audience.

The International Space Station has been a beacon of hope for peaceful international collaboration for more than two decades. Five space agencies, including NASA and Russia's national space agency, collaborated to create the massive space habitat. Some people are petitioning for the project to receive a peace prize because of the scientific study and international friendship that have flourished on the space station.

Russia's latest attack could endanger cooperation. What happens to the International Space Station in times of unrest?

The more practical matters of living and working in space are more important than nationality according to former astronauts.

Rick Mastracchio, a retired NASA engineer who flew on the 38th and 39th expeditions to the International Space Station, agrees. You need to get along because you are part of a team.

The time he spent with his colleagues gave him insight into the Russian perspective on geopolitics. The prospect of Ukraine joining NATO seems to Russia to be a serious threat to national security. If Mexico and Canada had signed the Warsaw Pact before the fall of the Soviet Union, how would the U.S. react? Even though he disagrees with the invasion of Ukraine, he understands where Russia is coming from.

Tensions between Russia and the U.S. ran high when Mastracchio was on the space station. Russia annexed the peninsula of Crimea in March of last year, despite the United States condemning the move as a violation of international law.

I won't say it affected the atmosphere, but there was some discussion. He recalls that one of his Russian crewmates was scared for his family in a nearby region of Ukraine. The memory serves as a reminder that culture is not a political monolith.

The U.S. and its NATO allies have pursued a policy of sanctions against Russia. President Joe Biden said during a White House address that the sanctions will degrade Russia's space program.

It's not clear how this may affect life on the International Space Station. The seven crew members currently onboard the habitat are four NASA astronauts, one German astronauts, and two Russian cosmonauts. Whatever their feelings, the crew will continue their normal operations. That is the plan according to NASA.

The agency wrote in an e-mailed statement that it continues to work with all of its international partners, including the State Space Corporation.

A request for comment was not responded to. The director general of the Russian space agency mocked the sanctions on Thursday, saying that if the U.S. blocks cooperation with them, who will save the International Space Station? A test boost in April is planned to demonstrate an independent capability to maintain the International Space Station's altitude.

Historian Asif Siddiqi says that such comments are not out of character for the man.

When the U.S. enacted earlier rounds of sanctions after the annexation of the Crimean peninsula, Rogozin responded by suggesting that American astronauts could find their way to the International Space Station with a trampoline. Boeing is set to provide an additional domestic launch option in the near future. Last year, Rogozin raised hackles again with statements implying that a NASA Astronaut drilled a tiny hole in a Soyuz vessel for sabotage. In an article by the Russian state-owned news agency TASS last year, a Russian space official again raised hackles with accusations that NASA astronauts drilled a tiny hole in a Soyuz vessel so that they could return to Earth early. NASA does not think the allegations are credible and it stands by them.

The tension between NASA and Roscosmos has been strained in the past, but they have never disrupted life on the International Space Station. NASA employees were told to stop communicating with their Russian colleagues during the height of the conflict. He thinks a memo may be making the rounds.

Siddiqi says the transition may take months or even years if a major partner withdraws. Unless the current political situation changes, he doesn't see a future for the U.S. and Russian collaboration in space. The Canadian Space Agency and Japan's space agency will work with NASA to build an outpost on the moon to support astronauts for a long time. Russia and China will work together to build a moon base of their own. The international schism in spaceflight is set to grow with the cooperation epitomized by the ISS diminishing.

Siddiqi says that the relationship will not continue past a certain point.