RUSSIA has warned President Biden that it needs their tech and expertise to prevent the International Space Station from crashing down onto the US or Europe.
The country is a key part of the 15-nation partnership that has kept the ISS orbiting Earth for 23 years but relations are at an all-time low because of Russia’s decision to invade Ukraine.
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On Thursday, Joe Biden unveiled new sanctions that he said would “degrade” Russia’s “aerospace industry, including their space programme”.
Russia’s space chief hit back on Twitter, asking whether the US wants to “destroy our cooperation on the ISS”.
Roscosmos Director General Dmitry Rogozin warned that Russian engines control the station’s orbit and location.
“If you block cooperation with us, who will save the International Space Station (ISS) from an uncontrolled de-orbit and fall into the United States or…Europe?” he said.
“There is also the possibility of a 500-ton structure falling on India and China.
“Do you want to threaten them with such a prospect?
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“The ISS does not fly over Russia, therefore all the risks are yours. Are you ready for them?”
The comments are an escalation from remarks made by the Roscosmos boss just days before, when he tweeted that Russia “treasures” its relationship with Nasa and would “make every effort to continue as before” regardless of “disagreements between our countries”.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson was also pressed on the issue, telling MPs: “Hitherto I have been broadly in favour of continuing artistic and scientific collaboration, but in the current circumstances it’s hard to see how even those can continue as normal.”
However, Nasa has sought to ease tensions, saying sanctions won’t affect ISS operations.
“Nasa continues working with all our international partners, including the State Space Corporation Roscosmos, for the ongoing safe operations of the International Space Station,” a rep for the agency explained.
“The new export control measures will continue to allow US-Russia civil space cooperation.
“No changes are planned to the agency’s support for ongoing in orbit and ground station operations.”
In recent years, Nasa has been trying to reduce its reliance on Russian rockets to send its astronauts into space, instead getting Elon Musk‘s SpaceX to build them.
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This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk
