Russia proposes extending ISS beyond 2024
The head of Roscosmos said at a space conference this week that his nation is open to extending its ISS partnership with the U.S. beyond 2024 to 2028.
Russia has several good and bad reasons for wanted to do this.
- Their shortage of cash will make it difficult for them to fly their own station.
- They need a space station in order to maintain the jobs that exist at their mission control as well as throughout their space industry.
- There are many good political reasons for them to maintain this space partnership with the U.S. It prevents the U.S. from completely breaking off relations, should Russia do something the U.S. doesn’t like (such as invading a nearby country).
- They recognize that the ability to do long term research in an orbiting space station is essential for anyone who plans future interplanetary missions.
I will let my readers decide which of these reasons are the good reasons, and which are bad.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
The head of Roscosmos said at a space conference this week that his nation is open to extending its ISS partnership with the U.S. beyond 2024 to 2028.
Russia has several good and bad reasons for wanted to do this.
- Their shortage of cash will make it difficult for them to fly their own station.
- They need a space station in order to maintain the jobs that exist at their mission control as well as throughout their space industry.
- There are many good political reasons for them to maintain this space partnership with the U.S. It prevents the U.S. from completely breaking off relations, should Russia do something the U.S. doesn’t like (such as invading a nearby country).
- They recognize that the ability to do long term research in an orbiting space station is essential for anyone who plans future interplanetary missions.
I will let my readers decide which of these reasons are the good reasons, and which are bad.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
If the United States federal government abandons LEO and lets the commercial sector develop it that would mean a new base BEO and Russia would need new funding and upgraded systems. Maybe they want to stay in LEO because it is cheaper in the short run?
Bingo, Vlad. Reason #1 trumps all the others. Follow the money. Or, in this case, follow the lack of money.