Working Together: Major Space Players to Discuss the Future of ISS
Dmitry Rogozin, the head of Russia’s space agency Roscosmos, will meet with NASA chief James Bridenstine to discuss the future of the International Space Station (ISS) on October 10, 2018 at the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan.
The two agencies issued a joint statement — which is a rare occurrence for the agencies competing in the space race — announcing the upcoming talks.
As for Rogozin and Bridenstine, prompting the meeting was the leak in the Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft docked on the ISS, which caused plenty of speculations in the press. While it was initially thought that the two-millimeter hole was caused by a micrometeoroid or a piece of orbital debris, Russian officials have wondered if it was caused by someone — although possibly by accident.
In the joint statement, the Roscosmos-led investigation into the cause of the leak was mentioned, and the agencies stated that the heads “… affirmed the necessity of further close interaction between NASA and Roscosmos technical teams in identifying and eliminating the cause of the leak, as well as continuation of normal ISS operations and NASA’s ongoing support of the Roscosmos-led Soyuz investigation.”
The statement also addressed the media frenzy around the cause of the leak: “The Administrator and the General Director noted speculations circulating in the media regarding the possible cause of the incident and agreed on deferring any preliminary conclusions and providing any explanations until the final investigation has been completed. They acknowledged the entire crew is dedicated to the safe operation of the station and all docked spacecraft to ensure mission success.”
In the meantime, both Russian and American crewmembers aboard the ISS have dismissed rumors in the media. “I can unequivocally say that the crew had nothing to do with this on orbit, without a doubt, and I think it’s actually a shame and somewhat embarrassing that anybody is wasting any time talking about something that the crew was involved in,” Drew Feustel, a NASA astronaut and the current ISS commander, told ABC News.
“As you can see, everything is calm on board. We’re coexisting peacefully and amicably as always, experiments are being conducted in a routine mode,” said Russian cosmonaut Sergei Prokopyev in a video posted on social media. “Our joint international expedition is operating in a calm and friendly environment.”
Even though the relationship between the two countries may be strained at the moment, the space agencies are looking forward to their collaboration. “We’re working on how do we maintain this relationship given those constraints. I’m very confident that we’ll be able to work it out,” said Bridenstine.
The problem of the future of ISS and its joint utilization were recently discussed at Global Networking Forum during the “The International Space Station (ISS) as a ‘Launch Pad’ for the Future Astronautics: Innovative Technologies, Open Architecture, and International Cooperation for Deep Space Missions” session, which was part of the International Astronautical Congress in Bremen. Lena De Winne, Deputy Head of Administration of Head of Nation of Asgardia, moderated the discussion.
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