war in Ukraine
NASA emphasizes “peaceful relations” in space
The International Space Station (ISS). Photo: NASA/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
Despite the Russian attack on Ukraine: In space, Russia and the USA continue to have “peaceful relations”, as NASA emphasizes. However, the situation should continue to be monitored.
After the Russian attack on Ukraine, the US space agency Nasa wants to continue to monitor the situation with regard to cooperation with Russia in space.
“At the moment our operations are running normally,” said Kathy Lueders, head of NASA’s manned space program, at a press conference on Monday. “But of course we continue to monitor the situation.” Possible “operational flexibilities” are also being looked at, Lueders said, but also emphasized: “It would be a sad day for international operations if we could not continue to work together in space.”
Team still working together
The teams from both countries are in constant contact and NASA is currently getting all the support it needs from Russia. “We don’t get any indications from our counterpart that they don’t want to continue operations,” said Lueders. “We understand that the international situation is what it is, but our team is still working together.” You work together in the same way “as you did three weeks ago”.
“We have previously maintained operations under such circumstances and both sides have always behaved very professionally,” Lueders continued. “We continue to have peaceful relations between these two countries in space.”
Meanwhile, the European space agency Esa is examining the impact of the sanctions against Russia on its own cooperation with the country. Many difficult decisions are currently being made at Esa, General Director Josef Aschbacher wrote on Twitter on Monday.
The European-Russian space project “Exomars” to search for traces of life on the red planet could be particularly affected. Esa announced that a launch this year was very unlikely due to the general environment and the sanctions. Actually, the second part of the mission should start in September with a rover on board in the direction of Mars. ESA said in general that it would fully implement its member states’ sanctions against Moscow over the war in Ukraine.
will is there
In response to EU sanctions, Russia’s space agency Roskosmos had previously announced that it would suspend cooperation on space launches in Kourou, French Guiana. On the other hand, Roscosmos had emphasized its willingness to continue cooperation with the USA in space – especially with regard to the operation of the International Space Station ISS and flights there – and warned the USA of a possibly hasty termination of this cooperation.
The German astronaut Matthias Maurer is currently working with four Americans and two Russians on the outpost of mankind. At the end of March, NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei is scheduled to return to Earth in a Russian Soyuz capsule. This plan will be adhered to for the time being, said Nasa manager Lueders.
Despite many conflicts between Moscow and Washington, space travel has always been considered one of the few areas where cooperation between the two countries has worked. At the turn of the year, NASA agreed that the ISS would continue to operate until 2030. Roskosmos now wanted to propose a corresponding extension to the government in Moscow.