Russia’s plan to pull out of the International Space Station after 2024 could potentially close the book on the nation's close ties with the U.S. in space. It also calls into question whether the space station can remain operational without them.
This plan is in line with othermade by the previous head of Roscosmos, despite the fact that other ISS partners — like NASA — have pushed to keep the program going until the end of the 2020s.
"They have been good partners as all of our partners are," Robyn Gatens, NASA's director of the International Space Station, said during remarks at a conference today. "And we want to continue together as a partnership to continue operating the space station through the decade."for the ISS where Russian cosmonauts will fly aboard SpaceX's Dragon capsules and NASA astronauts will fly aboard Russian Progress vehicles.
"We haven't received any official word from the partner as to the news today," Gatens said of Russia. "We'll be talking more about their plan going forward."Russia's plans to leave the station after 2024 — if they come to fruition — could actually help solve a political challenge for the United States.
Continuing on with Russia as a partner in space could be a politically difficult thing to sell on the ground because of Moscow's actions in Ukraine. "If the Russians are pulling out, maybe that's sort of a silver lining for the U.S." Brian Weeden of the Secure World Foundation tells me.NASA is working with multiple ISS partners for its Artemis program to send people back to the lunar surface while also enlisting other nations to sign its Artemis Accords.
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