Amidst thighing pressure between Russia and the US over the ongoing Ukraine war, the space agencies of both countries have joined hands for the new mission.
The International space station (ISS) gladly received 3 astronauts after the successful launch of Russia’s Soyuz MS-22. The mission took two Russian astronauts and an American to the space station. This proves that the two countries, despite the tensions over the war, wanted peaceful collaboration in space.
The team consists of Frank Rubio, an American astronaut, along with Russians Sergei Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin. For Rubio, this would be his first journey to space after joining NASA in 2017. The former Army parachutist and doctor will be sharing the next six months with two of his Russian crewmates.
Under the new crew swap agreement, one astronaut from each country will swap places with the other. While Rubio will be staying with the Russians, Anna Kikina will join SpaceX with other team members.
This agreement ensures that the presence of the US and Russia remains constant in space regardless of any political tensions. Until SpaceX, astronauts at NASA used to rely greatly on Russian Soyuz rockets, which cost over ten million dollars for each piece.
Now SpaceX has started to launch its crew members to space from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in 2020. It will also launch Kikina along with two Japanese and two Americans as early as October 3.
have beenspringThe old crewmates, who have been staying in space since early spring, will be replaced by the new ones. Thus, the total crew size is total of seven members.
The dawning of a new adventure in the space station
Samantha Cristoforetti, an Italian astronaut, has commented that the view from the space station’s windows is “spectacular”. She has further tweeted many marvelous pictures of the launch, including the rocket’s white contrail.
On the other hand, Anna Kikina will be joining three other astronauts in the new mission that SpaceX will launch on its new Dragon Endurance Spacecraft.
According to NASA, the crew had entered a pre-flight quarantine, which is mandatory for all astronauts getting ready to go to space. This guarantees that the crew remains healthy and averts any disease that may carry them to space.
to five The safety of those who are currently staying on board the space station is also important to those who are going up. The crew of five is facing immense pressure from both sides as they have to carry out the mission successfully amid the war and show the world that the spatial relationship between both countries has not been affected in the least.
In the past few months, the Russians have been advancing greatly on the ISS with new technologies. The crew has commented that they are excited to work with the new facilities they have on board.
It is a harsh reality that Russia won’t be involved with the ISS in the future anymore. NASA has been emphasizing the withdrawal of Russia in the past few months. According to them, it will be a gradual process that is managed carefully by the officials. They will be present until 2030.
The rest of the brunt will be borne by the partners who decided to stick with them till then. The main reason behind the sudden withdrawal might be the new plans introduced by Russia. They wanted to build their space station by the year 2028.
As for the ISS, the station cannot be broken down as most of the propulsion control is managed by the Russians from the ground.
At present, leaving out the pressure and everything, about 200 missions are waiting for the astronauts to focus on.
