Status: 05.10.2022 21:08
Not a matter of course in view of the tensions between the USA and Russia: A Russian-Japanese-US American crew took off from Florida in a SpaceX rocket to the ISS space station.
A Russian cosmonaut, two American and a Japanese astronaut started together from the US spaceport Cape Canaveral to the ISS space station. You will spend around five months on board the ISS and take care of numerous scientific experiments. They were launched into space with a rocket from the private space company SpaceX. The launch, originally planned for October 3, had to be postponed due to Hurricane Ian.
Together on the way to the ISS (left to right): Anna Kikina (Russia), Josh Cassada and Nicole Mann (both USA), Koichi Wakata (Japan).
Image: REUTERS
The fact that a US rocket flies a Russian cosmonaut into space in the midst of the intense tensions over the Ukraine war has special symbolic value. Space is one of the few areas where the US and Russia still work together. Two weeks ago, a US astronaut and two Russian colleagues flew to the ISS in a Soyuz capsule.
Future of the ISS: will Russia stay on board?
However, the cooperation between the two states is not without risk. In the summer, the head of the Russian space agency Roskosmos, Yuri Borisov, said that Russia would withdraw from joint operation of the ISS after 2024 and strive to build its own space station. This week, Sergei Krikalev, head of Russia’s human spaceflight program and a former cosmonaut himself, said Russia will probably stay involved for longer.
The ISS partners USA, Russia, Europe, Canada and Japan have committed to operate the joint space laboratory until 2024. However, US officials have already announced that they intend to continue until 2030.