What can we say about Russia’s announcement that it will pull out of the International Space Station after 2024? I would refer to that old British Bulldog Winston Churchill, who, in 1939, said, “I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia. It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.”
Thank you Paul for that statement. I agree 100% and am saddened that as a very active 75 year old, my desire to visit Russia no longer exists. I’ve followed a number of Russian Vloggers on Youtube, and they have taken me all over that country the past year and increased my knowledge about its geography and people.Sadly, pootin and his unprovoked attack on Ukraine will probably have the same effect on other people that may have wanted to see Russia and experience first hand that culture. In the end, they have become a pariah nation by a man that has separated them from modern society.
Thank you for a well written, experience-based commentary. Having had the great opportunity to work with a former NASA engineer for several years, I too see the team finding a workable solution to manage orbit, if it hasn’t already been designed and with plans sitting on the shelf.
Why bother? Can anyone state what the ISS has done for us? Has it been a net positive return on the tax dollars confiscated from the private sector? The only news I recall is the sordid affair with a female astronaut who drove from Texas to Florida (wearing diapers) to confront her astronaut husband and his mistress. Or something along those lines.
Plan for it!
Thanks for putting this perspective forward Paul, it’s really helpful to have an insiders take on this. One question I have is - if the Russians do pull out, what will become of their section of the ISS. Would it default to the remaining western partners and if so, what are the implications? Would they leave it intact, would it be easy to manage given the tech is different from ours, would the Russians leave in a safe condition?
Consider this. The Russians as they are isolated have become more chummy with the CHICOMS. The Chinese are building a new “space station” that will be 25 years more modern but not international in nature, so they can do anything they can physically achieve, and plenty of it will be of military nature, not now allowed on the current international facility. The Chinese could no doubt benefit from Russian experience and technology. If the Russians can partner up with the CHICOMs in space it would be much to their both their advantages to do so, and stop spending on and paying for the “international” space station. This appears to be a very smart move by them if they continue to partner with the Chinese. A CHICOM/Russian space station should also be considered as significant threat to the rest of the world.
"Can anyone state what the ISS has done for us? "
Assuming you really want to know the answer, well, google it. You may or may not think the results justify the expense, but either way you’re not likely to find those answers in the Avweb comment section.
Russian participation in the ISS program certainly isn’t essential, so a cheery “do svidaniya” is obviously a viable response. Looking deeper at the situation though, perhaps this signals it is time to seriously consider the future of the Station itself.
The program has certainly been a success in terms of refining our technology, skills, abilities and general knowledge related to space operations, especially as regards long-term zero G. Still, ISS has always been as much a demo project as anything, and perhaps we should be considering the next step, shifting current ISS outlays to an extended operations base on another planetary size body, which logically would be the Moon. To continue outward, we need to develop & refine, ISS-style, our techniques for handling deep-space level radiation, operations under low gravity, trans-planetary logistics and all the rest.
It has shown that long-time space travel is possible. That’s a big one.
Well said, Paul. Thanks for sharing your experience and perspective.
“… a cheery “do svidaniya” is obviously a viable response.”
Or, it’s a response that simply will get deleted.
Amen Randall
Great commentary. I can’t imagine what it’s like in the ISS right now. Must be pretty bad for everyone there now. Awkward at the very least
At the moment all the Space Station does is act as a propaganda tool for Russia with the inhabitants waving Russian flags and praising Putin at every chance. And the Yanks and current lot of EU flyers do nothing. They should kick the Russians out without a parachute, preferably on a trajectory which means they will entre atmosphere over Ukraine.
They won’t pull out.They are the sand in the gear box to the US and they won’t give that up.There is no reason to be friends with them.The British trusted Hitler and after WW2 they sold Russia several new jet engines and the information to build them.The Mig 15 ended up killing a lot of Americans.Bill Clinton gave the Communist Chinese the guidance technology to keep their rockets from falling over after launch.We got buddy buddy with the Russians because all the touchy feely types in Washington and NASA thought it would be a good idea.Right now the Communist Chinese have spys in all our schools, space,and military industries.