It seemed that the war between Russia and Ukraine shouldn’t affect that International Space Station where the mission led by Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti landed two days ago. In fact, over the weeks since the Moscow army invaded on February 24, ties between countries involved in space scientific exploration have also broken down. As announced in early April, Russia will leave the ISS due to the sanctions imposed by Western countries. “The decision has already been made, we are not obliged to speak about it publicly – said General Director Dmitry Rogozin in an interview with Tass agency. All I can say is that we will dutifully inform our partners about the end of our work on the ISS a year in advance“. Roscosmos number one stated: “We should not rush to explain our position and we will continue our work within the deadline set by the government, which is until 2024. A decision on the future of the ISS will largely be made by the development of the ISS will depend on the situation both in Russia and in the surrounding area”. Last month ESA, the European Space Agency, regretted the invasion and suspended the mission to Mars.
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Cooperation on the ISS envisages Russia alongside the space agencies United States, Europe, Canada and Japan for years. What passes for a human outpost in space where astronauts continue to work together has become the subject of battles over sanctions. In recent weeks, Rogozin has said that Russia cannot guarantee that the ISS will be repositioned to its correct orbit. But his threat had fallen on deaf ears. “I believe that restoring normal relations between the International Space Station partners and other joint projects is possible only with the full and unconditional lifting of sanctions,” he wrote on his Twitter profile. Statements that came as a cold shower a few days from the relaxed atmosphere seen the arrival of three other cosmonauts on the ISS, greeted by hugs and smiles from American and European colleagues on boardand after returning to Earth by American astronaut Mark Vande Hei with an nAvetta Soyuz and two Russian colleagues.
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Rogozin had declared in March that Russia could no longer insure the arrival of the Progress cargo shuttles, which periodically deliver materials and supplies to the orbital station, and which also have the basic task of periodically starting their engines to keep the space station in its correct orbit. This is a routine maneuver necessary to counteract the phenomenon of orbital decay, that is, the tendency of the space station’s orbit to move downward. A maneuver carried out on March 11th. The order had come from the Russian TsUP control center and the engine of the Progress MS-18 (79-P for NASA) cargo had been fired for 6 minutes, allows the space station to return to the correct orbit. This is a routine maneuver, typically performed every two to three months. Currently, the Russian vehicle is the only one performing this maneuver, and that’s why NASA’s human flight officer… Kathy LuderYes, he had said that the US space agency was considering using his own for this purpose Cygnus Cargo Shuttles: It would be a first step towards eventual independence from Russia, he added, should that country decide to suspend activities aboard the space station. As it happened now.