A former US space official said that astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) are unlikely to be affected by international tensions over Ukraine unless their home countries go to war.
This claim came after US Vice President Joe Biden announced a fresh wave of economic penalties on Russia in response to Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to recognize rebel areas in eastern Ukraine as independent states.
The International Space Station is pictured from the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour during a fly-around of the orbiting lab that took place as Crew-2 left station on Nov. 8, 2021. The space station has been continuously inhabited by humans for 21 years, supporting many scientific breakthroughs.
ISS Astronauts 'Largely Isolated' From Current Crisis
The ISS, which 15 countries continuously handle for more than two decades, orbits the Earth at about 250 miles. Four Americans, two Russians, and one German are currently orbiting the Earth.
The Russian space agency Roscosmos runs one section of the station, while Nasa and its equivalents from Canada, Japan, and the European Union control the other, which relies on the Russian component for navigation, guiding, and maneuver.
Former White House space council executive secretary Scott Pace emphasized that the ISS has been "largely isolated" from the current crisis.
"It's possible to imagine a break with Russia that would endanger the space station, but that would be at the level of dropping diplomatic relations," Pace told The Associated Press.
"That would be something that would be an utterly last resort, so I don't really see that happening unless there is a wider military confrontation," Pace added.
The ISS has been spared from prior US sanctions against Russia. Still, NASA has relied on Roscosmos to transport its astronauts back and forth until recently.
Despite rising tensions, crew members from both countries have managed to get along well, with one analyst describing the scenario to Agence France Presse (via Business Insider) as "like a divorced couple trying to live in the same house."
Roscosmos said via Space News in 2015 that it will disconnect its modules from the International Space Station after 2024 and build a new Russian-only space station. However, another Space News mentioned that the plan has since backtracked.
Pace also told the Associated Press that the ISS offers a way for people to work together on projects. However, that power is finite, and terrestrial problems on Earth may still get in the way.
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According to Pace, space is becoming increasingly important in our everyday lives, and it is something that everyone should be aware of.
What the Current Geopolitical Crisis Mean for ESA and Roscosmos
More than 20 European countries (excluding Ukraine) work on several projects on space research and exploration through the European Space Agency (ESA).
Roscosmos, Russia's space agency, has been a critical partner for years, participating in some of Europe's most high-profile space exploration projects.
It would be difficult to untangle these ties. However, when European countries impose sanctions on Russia, Space.com reports that many consequences would harm Russians and Europeans.
The Rosalind Franklin rover on the ExoMars mission, the first European rover planned to land on Mars, might be the most discouraging point for ESA.
The mission, originally slated to launch in 2018 but was postponed due to ongoing issues with its landing parachutes, is now set to launch in September from Russia's Baikonur Cosmodrome.
Russia produced the Kazachok landing platform and donated many pieces of scientific equipment for the rover and the Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO), which is the initial part of the ExoMars project and launching ExoMars on its Proton rocket. TGO first arrived on Mars in 2016 with the experimental Schiaparelli lander, which failed to owe to a technical error.
The European Space Agency (ESA) has declined to comment on the potential impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict on ExoMars or other collaborative programs.
ESA may have to make other difficult decisions as well. Arianespace, a European spaceflight company, launches payloads from the European Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, using Russian Soyuz rockets and the smaller Vega and bigger Ariane 5 vehicles. According to the ESA's website, the collaboration will help Russia access the commercial launch industry.
ESA planned to collaborate with Russia on the construction of future launchers and a series of satellites exploring the impact of space on biological creatures.
Whatever the European space community chooses, the space industry's promises about its contribution to world peace may in the future seem false.
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