ELON Musk has suggested SpaceX could save the International Space Station if Russia decides to pull out – and experts have drawn up plans of how the company could make it work.
Russia is a significant part of the ISS with the tech to keep it safely in orbit.
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But the 23 year-long collaboration is feeling the pressure from the ongoing invasion in Ukraine, which threatens the future of the ISS.
Russia’s space chief has already threatened to allow the station to fall onto the US or Russia, in response to sanctions.
Musk cheekily responded to Roscosmos Director General Dmitry Rogozin on Twitter with nothing but the logo for his SpaceX company.
Nasa relies on Russia to blast its astronauts up into space, but has enlisted SpaceX to take over in the future.
One of their astronauts currently on the ISS, Mark Vande Hei, faces an awkward return to Earth on March 30, on board a Russian Soyuz MS-19 spacecraft bound for Kazakhstan.
A space expert recently tweeted a series of prototype plans of how the ISS could look and work without the Russian part attached to it.
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“Here is what the ISS would look like without the Russian Segment attached,” said Pete Harding, from NasaSpaceFlight.com.
“Nasa should call Rogozin’s bluff on his rhetoric and immediately instigate a plan to modify commercial vehicles to provide attitude control & reboost capability.
“Even if it’s never needed it will be good to have as a back-up option.
“I’m not proposing that they immediately *develop* this plan.
“The purpose would be to send a message to Russia that NASA has viable options to run ISS without them.
“I should also add that I would be sad to see the ISS partnership end this way after nearly 25 years, but unfortunately Russia’s actions have made it untenable, and “partners” that use their capabilities as tools of threats and intimidation are no longer true partners.”
Musk is also lending a hand to Ukraine during the conflict, by providing more kits to access his internet satellite service Starlink.
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In other news, prudish Nasa has admitted it may have to study sex in space if humanity is ever going to make it to other planets.
An ancient mega-landslide deep under the ocean has been uncovered which could cause a massive tsunami with “just a little shake in the wrong place”.
Samsung has been accused of throttling the performance of more than 10,000 apps running on its latest smartphone.
And Nasa will let you send your name on a flight around the Moon – for FREE.
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This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk
