Americans and Russians launch for ISS as Ukraine rages: Despite rising tensions between Moscow and Washington over Russia‘s invasion of Ukraine, a Russian-operated spacecraft carrying a US astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts are scheduled to launch to the International Space Station on Wednesday.
According to the Russian space agency Roscosmos, Frank Rubio of NASA, Sergey Prokopyev. And Dmitry Petelin of Russia is planning to launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 1354 GMT.
President Vladimir Putin launched troops into pro-Western Ukraine on February 24. Rubio will be the first American astronaut to launch to the International Space Station on a Russian Soyuz rocket.
As a result, Moscow has subjected unprecedented penalties from Western capitals, notably Washington, and bilateral relations have reached new lows.
However, a collaboration between the two nations in space has managed to stand out.
The sole current female cosmonaut from Russia, Anna Kikina, scheduled to launch to the orbiting station in early October on a SpaceX Crew Dragon after Rubio.
She will become the first Russian to fly aboard a SpaceX spaceship, the business owned by US billionaire Elon Musk. And only the sixth professional female cosmonaut from Russia or the Soviet Union to go to space.
Americans and Russians launch for ISS as Ukraine rages
Russian cosmonauts and Western astronauts have tried to stay out of the dispute happening down on Earth while both trips are scheduled to take place, particularly while in orbit.
The International Space Station (ISS) composed of two parts: the US Orbital Segment and the Russian Orbital Segment. It developed in cooperation with the United States, Canada, Japan, the European Space Agency, and Russia.
The International Space Station (ISS) uses Russian propulsion to orbit 250 miles (400 km) above Earth. The US component oversees the ISS’s electrical and life support systems.
However, as Washington imposed sanctions on Moscow’s aerospace sector. Tensions in the sphere of space increased, prompting warnings from Dmitry Rogozin. Russia’s former space commander and a fervent backer of the conflict in Ukraine.
Later, freshly chosen Rogozin successor Yuri Borisov said Russia would depart the International Space Station (ISS) in 2024 to build its orbital station.
According to the US space agency, Nasa, the decision is an “unfortunate development” that would impede the scientific research done aboard the ISS.
According to space specialists, building a new orbital station may take more than ten years, and Russia’s space sector. Which is a source of great national pride, would not be able to thrive under strict sanctions.
After the Cold War’s Space Race rivalry, there was optimism for US-Russia collaboration at the time of the ISS’s 1998 launch.
The Soviet space program prospered at that time. It was proud of launching the first satellite and first man into space in 1961.
The loss of several satellites and other spacecraft and corruption scandals have caused analysts to claim that Roscosmos is now just a shell of what it once was.
SpaceX disrupted Russia’s monopoly on human ISS trips, costing the country millions of dollars.