An American and two Russians will fly together to the ISS
An American NASA astronaut, Frank Rubio, and two Russian cosmonauts, Sergei Prokopiev and Dmitri Peteline, of the Russian space agency Roscosmos are due to take off on Wednesday for the International Space Station (ISS). They will take off aboard a Soyuz rocket from the Russian cosmodrome in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, at 3:54 p.m. Paris time.
Mr. Rubio is the first American astronaut to travel to the ISS aboard a Russian rocket since the start of the entry of troops from Moscow into Ukraine on February 24.
After Wednesday’s flight, Anna Kikina, Russia’s only female cosmonaut in active service, is due to travel to the orbital laboratory for the first time in early October aboard a Crew Dragon rocket, from the American company SpaceX. She will be the fifth Russian female professional cosmonaut to go into space, and the first woman to fly aboard a ship from billionaire Elon Musk’s firm.
With these two planned flights, astronauts from each country, especially those due to go into orbit, have been keen to stay away from the tensions caused by the conflict raging on Earth.
The result of a collaboration between the United States, Canada, Japan, the European Space Agency and Russia, the ISS is divided into two segments: an American and a Russian. The ISS currently depends on a Russian propulsion system to maintain its orbit, some 400 kilometers above sea level, while the American segment handles electricity and life support systems.
Space tensions rose after Washington announced sanctions against Russia’s aerospace industry, prompting warnings from Russia’s former space chief and unconditional supporter of the intervention in Ukraine, Dmitry Rogozine.
Mr Rogozin’s recently appointed successor, Yuri Borissov, later confirmed Russia’s decision to leave the ISS after 2024 in favor of establishing its own orbital station. However, he has not set a specific date. The US space agency called the decision a “unfortunate development” which will hamper the scientific work carried out on the ISS.
According to experts in the field of space, the construction of a new orbital station could take more than ten years in Moscow and the Russian space industry, which has been the pride of the country since the days of the USSR, could not survive. thrive under heavy penalties.