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NASA suspends relations with Russia, but Putin holds all the cards

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NASA has suspended certain activities with Russia. But the space station is exempt, and the rift highlights that, for the next few years, the US can't send astronauts into space without Russia.

The International Space Station, long a symbol of international cooperation in space even among former adversaries, could become the next pressure point as the US tries to raise the stakes for Moscow after Russia's takeover and annexation of Crimea.

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On Wednesday, Michael O'Brien, NASA's associate administrator for international and interagency relations issued a memo to the agency's staff suspending bilateral contacts with Russia unless a specific activity has been given an exemption.

"This suspension includes NASA travel to Russia and visits by Russian Government representatives to NASA facilities, bilateral meetings, email, and teleconferences or videoconferences." wrote Mr. O'Brien. A copy of the memo was posted on the website SpaceRef.com.

Bilateral contacts related to the operation of the space station are exempt, as are meetings held outside of Russia that involved additional countries such as those that might be include the participation of the station's other main partners, Canada, Europe, and Japan.

NASA's move is something of a diplomatic Post-it note; the two countries' space programs aren't engaged in many bilateral activities. Indeed, should operation of the space station come directly into play, the US and the other partners have the most to lose.

They have the heaviest investment in the $150 billion orbiting outpost, and they cannot get into space without Russia, which has served as America's taxi service for delivering and retrieving US crew members from the space station, as well as delivering cargo to the station.

So far, the Ukraine crisis has not interrupted US-Russia cooperation on the space station. But with the issuance of NASA's memo Wednesday, the question everyone is waiting to see answered is how Russian President Vladimir Putin responds.

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NASA suspends relations with Russia, but Putin holds all the cards

NASA Limits Contact With Russia, Except for Space Station

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NASA said Wednesday that it's suspending most of its contacts with Russian officials due to U.S.-Russian frictions over Ukraine and Crimea.

The suspension does not affect operations on the International Space Station, in which the United States and Russia are the main partners. It does, however, affect travel to Russia as well as communication and meetings with Russian space officials.

The decision to suspend most contacts was the subject of discussion throughout the day, and confirmed in a NASA statement issued late Wednesday:

"Given Russia's ongoing violation of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, NASA is suspending the majority of its ongoing engagements with the Russian Federation. NASA and Roscosmos will, however, continue to work together to maintain safe and continuous operation of the International Space Station.

"NASA is laser focused on a plan to return human spaceflight launches to American soil, and end our reliance on Russia to get into space. This has been a top priority of the Obama administration's for the past five years, and had our plan been fully funded, we would have returned American human spaceflight launches and the jobs they support back to the United States next year. With the reduced level of funding approved by Congress, we're now looking at launching from U.S. soil in 2017.

"The choice here is between fully funding the plan to bring space launches back to America or continuing to send millions of dollars to the Russians. It's that simple. The Obama administration chooses to invest in America and we are hopeful that Congress will do the same."

Relations between Washington and Moscow have worsened in the wake of Crimea's secession from Ukraine and its annexation by Russia. However, U.S.-Russian cooperation is essential on the space station, which has been supported by 15 nations throughout its 13 years of operation.

The station is currently commanded by Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, with three Russians and two Americans filling out the crew.

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Due to the 2011 retirement of NASA's space shuttle fleet, Russian spaceships provide the only means to transport astronauts to and from the station. However, the station also relies on a U.S.-controlled set of solar arrays for electrical power, as well as U.S. and Russian communication links.

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NASA Limits Contact With Russia, Except for Space Station

Leaked NASA Memo Says Agency Is Giving Russia the Cold Shoulder

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The gossip among spaceheads on sites like The Verge and NasaWatch (which is not an official NASA site) is that NASA has suspended all contacts with Russian Government representativesunless the activity has been specifically excepted, in the phrasing of a supposedly leaked memo. The biggest of those exceptions would be anything related to the operation of the International Space Station, in which both countries have skinliterallyin the form of astronauts.

The alleged memo is unusually frank in its phrasing, blaming the chill on Russias ongoing violation of Ukraines sovereignty and territorial integrity. Fox News, Huffington Post, CBS News and others are confirming the report, but AP has said nothing and NASA is so far mum.

A NASA representative at the Johnson Space Center emailing with TIME had no knowledge of the supposed memo and seemed amused by it, given that agency officials met with their Russian counterparts just this morning. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden has been making the point that Russias unreliability makes it all the more imperative for NASA funding to get a bump so the U.S. can free itself of the need to hitch rides aboard Soyuz spacecraftat $70 million per seatjust to reach the Space Station.

Its unlike NASA to play cute with leaks, letting this memo slip, say, just to put some heat on Congress for more money and on Moscow for better behavior. Russia does like those steep air fares we pay them and doesnt need to be reminded of that. The memoif it existsmay be the result of someone inside NASA overstepping, but a formal statement is still pending as of late Monday afternoon.

Update 8:10 p.m. ET: NASA indeed suspended some activities with Russian officials. NASAs full statement:

Given Russias ongoing violation of Ukraines sovereignty and territorial integrity, NASA is suspending the majority of its ongoing engagements with the Russian Federation. NASA and Roscosmos will, however, continue to work together to maintain safe and continuous operation of the International Space Station. NASA is laser focused on a plan to return human spaceflight launches to American soil, and end our reliance on Russia to get into space. This has been a top priority of the Obama Administrations for the past five years, and had our plan been fully funded, we would have returned American human spaceflight launches and the jobs they support back to the United States next year. With the reduced level of funding approved by Congress, were now looking at launching from U.S. soil in 2017. The choice here is between fully funding the plan to bring space launches back to America or continuing to send millions of dollars to the Russians. Its that simple. The Obama Administration chooses to invest in America and we are hopeful that Congress will do the same.

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Leaked NASA Memo Says Agency Is Giving Russia the Cold Shoulder

Saylor Foundation and NASA’s SSE 101: Subunit 5.3 Requirements and Configuration Management – Video

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Saylor Foundation and NASA #39;s SSE 101: Subunit 5.3 Requirements and Configuration Management
Saylor.org and NASA have partnered to bring you this video as part of our Space Systems Engineering Online Course. Take the full SSE101: Survey of Systems En...

By: The Saylor Academy

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Saylor Foundation and NASA's SSE 101: Subunit 5.3 Requirements and Configuration Management - Video


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