The USA and Russia are two countries in the world that have been on the agenda for a long time with their disagreements. But these disagreements have hardly been reflected in co-operation in space so far. A seven-man crew from the European Space Agency, consisting of four Americans, two Russians and a German, is on the International Space Station. On the ground, two NASA astronauts complete their training with Russia’s civilian space agency Roscosmos, while three Russian cosmonauts train with NASA in Texas.
However, according to a new claim, the Russia-Ukraine crisis may have extended into space this time. Although the message of safe, secure operations and cooperation on the ISS continues from authorized sources, Scott Pace, who served as the general secretary of the space council in the Trump administration, claims the opposite.
The former head of the National Space Council told The Associated Press that tensions in eastern Ukraine and the West’s growing fears of a Russian invasion should not have a significant impact on the International Space Station or US-Russia cooperation in space. But he added that he thinks the situation is a bit complicated.
Pace claims that Russian and US astronauts are kept in separate areas on the ISS to avoid possible tension, while saying that the two countries are dependent on each other for space: “They can’t work without us, and we can’t work without them. ”
Although astronauts and cosmonauts claim to be kept separate, Pace doesn’t believe this will get any worse: “Given our interdependence and collaborative culture, I don’t think world events will cause problems at the station in the near term.”
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