Rocky Russian relations could leave U.S. astronauts without rides to the International Space Station. <\/p>\n
Since NASA retired its fleet of space shuttles in 2011, Russia has had a monopoly on flying crews to the orbital outpost. The only other country currently flying people in space is China, which is not a member of the 15-nation space station partnership. <\/p>\n
That leaves the United States in a vulnerable position as it ponders options to defuse a tense standoff between Russia and Ukraine. <\/p>\n
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For now, the U.S.-Russian space partnership is insulated from the political whirlwind generated by Russia's decision to move troops into the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea last week, fueling fears of a full-fledged invasion. <\/p>\n
\"We are continuing to monitor the situation,\" NASA administrator Charles Bolden told reporters on a conference call on Tuesday. <\/p>\n
\"Everything for us continues to be nominal,\" he said. <\/p>\n
Bolden noted that the space station has been through \"multiple international crises\" since crews began living there full-time on Nov. 2, 2000. That includes the 2008 war between Russia and Georgia over break-away regions Abkhazia and South Ossetia. <\/p>\n
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\"NASA and its Russian counterpart, Roscosmos, have maintained a professional, beneficial and collegial working relationship through the various ups and downs of the broader U.S.-Russia relationship and we expect that to continue throughout the life of the (space station) program and beyond,\" NASA added in a statement. <\/p>\n
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Read more: Rocky Russian relations could leave U.S. astronauts without rides to the International Space Station. Since NASA retired its fleet of space shuttles in 2011, Russia has had a monopoly on flying crews to the orbital outpost. Continue reading
\nUkraine Crisis: Russian Roulette in Space?<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"