NASA & Russian Tensions

[onewhippedpuppy]

One topic not getting a lot of airtime in the ongoing drama with Russia - space. The USA is solely dependent on Russia to ferry our astronauts to/from the International Space Station, ever since our knee-jerk (my opinion) decision to retire the Space Shuttles without a replacement. Were the relationship with Russia to become hostile, we could potentially either strand astronauts at the ISS or lose the ability to get there. The Commercial Crew efforts to put manned space flight into the hands of commercial entities is 2017 at the earliest, though it appears that Obama is proposing to up the funding as part of next year's budget.

NASA Spending Blueprint Aims to Boost Commercial Ventures - WSJ.com

Worth noting, NASA currently says that there is no change in the relationship with the Russian space program. But if things get nasty, I suspect anything could be on the table. Sad that even with all the rhetoric, we'll be paying them $70M per astronaut to be our space taxi. Kennedy is spinning in his grave......

[J P Stein]

In the field of international relations, I believe that's called "handing over your short hairs".......but I could be wrong.

[fanaudical]

I'm quite sad to see the recent deterioration of relations between the US and Russia. I do think the Russians will do the right thing and NOT strand astronauts on the station if things get worse. They'll bring people home, but may not necessarily send them back up.

[Tervuren]

Imagine if we'd just gone production on Saturn 5's, they were designed for it.

The shuttle alone is inefficient - it was made to work in conjunction with the Saturn V. You want a launch vehicle for bringing things up that doesn't have the extra weight(need for fuel) of making the whole thing a re-entry vehicle.

The Russian space industry would hate to say goodbye to a chunk of its funding by doing the wrong thing.

[motion]

I don't see the agreement being affected. This sort of cooperation even occurred during the cold war. Its a win-win for both of us.

[Son_of_Mossguy]

Even if the US relationship with Russia went south, it would be extremely unlikely that our astronauts would be stranded on the ISS. They would return to earth, on a Soyuz, as scheduled.

More likely, US astronauts would not be a part of future ISS crews (until which time a US man-rated crew vehicle is on line -still several years away), essentially turning the ISS into the new Mir.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by motion

I don't see the agreement being affected. This sort of cooperation even occurred during the cold war. Its a win-win for both of us.

I agree that I don't see it impacted, unless things were to get really bad. But I disagree that outsourcing our manned launch capability to Russia is a win. We should control our own destiny.

[intakexhaust]

Originally Posted by motion

I don't see the agreement being affected. This sort of cooperation even occurred during the cold war. Its a win-win for both of us.

^^^ This

[IROC]

Originally Posted by motion

I don't see the agreement being affected. This sort of cooperation even occurred during the cold war. Its a win-win for both of us.

I agree. I worked on the Shuttle/ISS program when the decision was made to bring the Russians in. Never say never, but the spirit at that time was more of collaboration between space agencies regardless of how well the governments were getting along.

[Tervuren]

Originally Posted by IROC

I agree. I worked on the Shuttle/ISS program when the decision was made to bring the Russians in. Never say never, but the spirit at that time was more of collaboration between space agencies regardless of how well the governments were getting along.

Would I be correct in saying what happened there - is the US only funded/succefully put into operation one piece of what was needed(shuttle), the Russians had the other two(Freight/Ferry, Station core/emergency getaway capsules). New Russian gov didn't have the funding - but had the manufacturing plants all there to keep production going.

[EMJ]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

I agree that I don't see it impacted, unless things were to get really bad. But I disagree that outsourcing our manned launch capability to Russia is a win. We should control our own destiny.

Think about this for a minute: The U.S. is the most powerful and wealthiest country in the world and we no longer even have our own manned launch capability. This from a country that put a man on the moon some 45 years ago. What's this say about the need to go to space? If it were so important to us, wouldn't we have this ability?

I think the biggest problem with the space program is that the common American has no clue as to why we're even in space. Experiments. Science. Innovation. Sure. NASA simply didn't do a good job selling Americans on what's in it for us. That's why it's in shambles now and the common thinking is that federal funds could be better used elsewhere.

[island911]

Well, NASA got their budget slashed to 'just' $16.6 billion per year. Not a lot of money for a giant bureaucracy.

Originally Posted by Tervuren

Imagine if we'd just gone production on Saturn 5's, they were designed for it.
....

IIRC, the Sat V was designed for more than just orbit. Escape velocity is a big thing.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by EMJ

I think the biggest problem with the space program is that the common American has no clue as to why we're even in space. Experiments. Science. Innovation. Sure. NASA simply didn't do a good job selling Americans on what's in it for us. That's why it's in shambles now and the common thinking is that federal funds could be better used elsewhere.

Totally agree, it's a travesty. The space program has made a staggering number of contributions to modern science, medicine, and daily life. Not to mention the continued exploration and discovery of worlds outside of our own. I'd like to think that a bold and dangerous mission could recapture the attention of our public, like putting a man on Mars. I'd like to see our astronauts become heroes again, instead of self-absorbed thug athletes. I'd like to see our country have a universal source of national pride, and to embrace the spirit of discovery. But then I see the popularity of shows like Duck Dynasty and Honey Boo Boo and I'm not so sure......

[EMJ]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

Totally agree, it's a travesty. The space program has made a staggering number of contributions to modern science, medicine, and daily life. Not to mention the continued exploration and discovery of worlds outside of our own. I'd like to think that a bold and dangerous mission could recapture the attention of our public, like putting a man on Mars. I'd like to see our astronauts become heroes again, instead of self-absorbed thug athletes. I'd like to see our country have a universal source of national pride, and to embrace the spirit of discovery. But then I see the popularity of shows like Duck Dynasty and Honey Boo Boo and I'm not so sure......

Seems the only way to put the space program back on the map could only happen the good old fashioned way: marketing. Americans need to see what's in it for them. There needs to be a connection to Joe and Jane Public with clearly defined benefits of what we get and a better confidence around safety. I think the Columbia tragedy sealed the space shuttle's fate. Seems the benefits of space exploration were outweighed by smoldering debris falling on the American countryside on February 1st, 2003.

[intakexhaust]

NASA marketing -
Perhaps send some super models to the ISS. Guaranteed everyone will watch

[intakexhaust]

Tension in my pants. When are they going to start breeding up there?