Will U.S.-Russia tensions extend into space?

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As relations between the United States and Russia plummet over the latter's annexation of the Crimean peninsula, one of the unintended victims could be the International Space Station, where Russian cosmonauts and American astronauts currently share very close quarters, some 400 kilometers above the earth.

With a Russian Soyuz spacecraft due to blast off for the space station this week carrying one American and two Russians to join the Russian, American and Japanese astronauts who are already there - officials from both countries are downplaying the potential problems.

"We are confident that our two space agencies will continue to work closely, as they have throughout various ups and downs of the broader U.S.-Russia relationship," the National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA said last week, in a statement quoted by Discovery News.

Nevertheless, concerns exist. The Pentagon last week instructed the U.S. Air Force to conduct a review of its use of the Russian-made RD-180 motor in the Atlas V rockets, which propel military satellites into space, in case Russia were to cut off supplies.

The retirement of the U.S. space shuttle program in 2011 left Americans without a vehicle for ferrying crew to low-earth orbit, and a commercial replacement is not expected to be up and running before 2017.

The U.S. needs Russia to transport astronauts to the space station, and currently pays an average of $70.7 million per seat, according to a NASA spokesman. Reliance on Russia's Soyuz spacecraft is a key reason why the United States cannot break off space ties.

"It is always in Russia's capability to cut off their service," said John Logsdon, a member of the NASA Advisory Council, estimating the likelihood of such an action at 20-25 percent. "It would be a catastrophe. There is mutual dependence and that provides a good motivation to isolate this from the broader issues."

American astronaut Mike Hopkins, who returned from the ISS earlier this month after a half-year stay, said he considered his Russian counterparts "close friends" and described cooperation as "very strong." Space officials from both countries seem to be counting on those personal bonds enduring.

Representatives from Russia, the U.S., Canada, Japan and Europe have lived continuously aboard the space station in rotating crews for more than 13 years, and the life of the station was recently extended to 2024.

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Will U.S.-Russia tensions extend into space?

Black tomatoes known as 'Indigo Rose' are the latest colour food craze

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Dark tomatoes 'healthier' than red variety, according to plant scientists 'Indigo Rose' starts green as normal but ripens into jet black Already popular in America, going on sale for first time this spring

By Ben Spencer

PUBLISHED: 10:32 EST, 23 March 2014 | UPDATED: 12:11 EST, 23 March 2014

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Unusual: The jet-black variety is said to be healthier than its red cousin as it has more anti-oxidants

We're already growing purple carrots, yellow courgettes and white asparagus.

But black tomatoes are the must-have crop for greenhouses this season, growers say.

Not only will the dark toms turn heads at the allotment society, they are also healthier than normal red varieties, according to plant scientists.

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Black tomatoes known as 'Indigo Rose' are the latest colour food craze

Sangre Chronicle > Red River > Red River receives state funding for projects at ambulance building

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RED RIVER With the signing of the Capital Outlay funding bill, Gov. Susana Martinez approved $75,000 for improvements to the town ambulance building.

Red River Fire Chief Ron Burnham, who heads the towns Emergency Medical Services Department, said the improvements to the building will help ensure ambulances and the old fire department area arent significantly damaged.

Were replacing the bay doors at our old station on the back of Town Hall, Burnham said, adding the doors were built in the early 1970s and are now too small for the new emergency vehicle fleet. They had also started to wear out. We put in a request to remodel those bay doors to allow for current sizes.

When the town of Red River built its newest fire station, located at 100 East High St., it was only large enough to store the fire trucks. Most of the ambulances have been stationed at Town Hall in the middle of Main Street.

The new framework of the ambulance doors will be 144 square feet on each of the doors, Burnham said. Additionally, with the current frames the ambulances would break off side mirrors or run into other obstacles with the narrow doorframe, and damages to the building also were inevitable. The mechanisms to the doors are more than 40 years old and dont work efficiently.

If we didnt (apply for funding) the remodel, we would have to do this at a considerable cost, he said.

Red River has three advanced-life-support ambulances in its fleet and responds to calls in Red River as well as surrounding areas that dispatch for assistance, if it can be provided. Burnham said in the last month the call volume has slowed down considerably.

(The call volume) has been fairly steady, he said. Theres always a little up and down annually, particularly with the tourist seasons because EMS calls are pretty proportional. The more people we get, the busier we are. We typically run between 650 and 750 calls per year.

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Sangre Chronicle > Red River > Red River receives state funding for projects at ambulance building

6-Year-Old Boy Visits KSCVC to Continue Fulfilling His ‘Mission’ of Saving NASA – Video

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6-Year-Old Boy Visits KSCVC to Continue Fulfilling His #39;Mission #39; of Saving NASA
Dreams do come true. Six-year old Connor Johnson, Denver, Colo., met with astronauts, trained like an astronaut, saw space vehicles and explored the future o...

By: Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex

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6-Year-Old Boy Visits KSCVC to Continue Fulfilling His 'Mission' of Saving NASA - Video