To Infinity and Beyond?
- Jane Lee
- Mar 30, 2022
- 2 min read
"When you're in space, and you're flying around the Earth at 17,500 miles an hour, and in a very hazardous environment, cooperation is the most important thing," said former astronaut Scott Kelly.
While cooperation may be the most important factor in space exploration, the relationships between Russia and the United States are far from cooperative. After the Russian-led war on Ukraine, relations between Russia and the world are strained, especially with the United States. Last month, in response to Putin’s war, President Biden added economic sanctions that restricted technological exports to Moscow. Biden aimed his act on Russia’s aerospace industry with this sanction, which the U.S. has heavily collaborated on for decades.
In 2011, after NASA discontinued the Shuttle Program, which sent astronauts to maintain U.S. shuttles, U.S. astronauts exclusively relied on Russian rockets to get into space. The International Space Station (ISS) is currently divided into two sections: the Russian Orbital Segment, which Russia operates, and the U.S. operated Orbital Segment. The co-dependence between the two nations on space exploration has been tricky to navigate after U.S.-Russian relations were weakened after the start of the war on Ukraine.
The strained relationship between the two powerhouse nations affects the gas prices on earth and jeopardizes American astronauts who may be stranded in space without transportation to return to earth. After Biden placed sanctions on technological goods, Dmitry Rogozin, director-general of Russian space agency Roscosmos, lashed out on Twitter, suggesting the U.S. sanctions could "destroy" ISS teamwork and threatening to leave American astronaut Mark Vande Hei.
Mark Vande Hei, launched to the ISS in April 2021, has spent a record-breaking 355 days in space, surpassing NASA astronaut Scott Kelly's record of 340 days in space. Vande Hei was scheduled to return earthside on March 30th alongside two Russian astronauts, Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov, in Kazakhstan aboard a Soyuz capsule.
After rising tensions between the two nations and threats from the Russian government, many feared Vande Hei would be stranded in space. However, the NASA ISS program manager guaranteed that would be the case. In a press conference, Joel Montalbano said, "I can tell you for sure Mark is coming home... We are in communication with our Russian colleagues. There's no fuzz on that.”
On March 18th, Three Russian astronauts arrived at the International Space Station (ISS), continuing a 20-year shared Russian-U.S. presence. The arrival of the team is meant to replace the three astronauts leaving on March 30th, including Vande He.The threats over serious matters like leaving behind an astronaut can not be taken lightly. Whatever issues are occurring on earth must stay thousands of miles apart. As astronaut Kelly said, “cooperation” is imperative during these high-stakes missions.
The information collected at ISS will impact future generations and evolve science to new heights. Without cooperation, there might never be answers or advancements in space explorations. Leaders can not use the issues of Ukraine against the astronauts, and astronauts are not pawns in the games of ill-intended leaders. The issues between earth and space must remain separate yet cooperative. Without these distinctions, it will manipulate our research and trust between nations. In a place where millions of scenarios could go wrong, it is no joke to threaten to leave behind an astronaut casually.
I agree that cooperation matters when things get serious. When astronauts lives are being used as bargaining chips by countries, true cooperation has been lost. A plan must be made to deal with hostile actions like these. It is sad to see the loss of the amazing cooperation that followed the unhealthy competition of the Space Race. I believe Russia is too far gone to get back into cooperation. I think the US is going to use China as a new opponent in a new space race to Mars. I hope cooperation comes earlier than it did with Russia. But if we end up with an ISS around Mars with China, I won't complain!
Instead of "competing" against one another and have divided operation sections on the ISS, it seems like it would be beneficial for both countries to work together in a shared space. I'm not sure how much they work together or separate their research, but with scientists and technology from both countries working together, I think it would make sense for all parties involved. Scientists, astronauts, and the countries could be in communication with what's going on.
Wow, this is scary. It is so crazy to me that people would even speculate about leaving an astronaut behind. I was just reading another article the other day about Russia and the US in space, and how Russia is pretty much in charge of keeping the ISS in orbit. With all of the tensions going on right now, I wonder what space exploration will look like in the next couple years.