NASA announced Friday that it will resume joint flights with the Russians to the International Space Station (ISS), in order to ensure the “safety of operations” of the station, despite US efforts to isolate Moscow. after the invasion of Ukraine.
Two American astronauts will fly aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket on two separate missions, the first of which is scheduled for September. Two Russian cosmonauts will also fly aboard SpaceX rockets for the first time.
A long-planned exchange
Such an exchange had been planned for a long time, but was still awaiting final validation from Russia. It seemed compromised after the outbreak of war in Ukraine, but NASA officials had repeated in recent weeks that they expected it to go ahead.
The announcement came hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin ousted the director of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin. Since the Russian offensive against Ukraine, he has been distinguished by his very bellicose statements towards the West.
“To ensure the safe operation of the International Space Station, protect the lives of astronauts, and ensure the continued presence of Americans in space, NASA will resume integrated flights on American and Russian Soyuz spacecraft,” NASA said in a statement. release.
Takeoff scheduled for September 21
American astronaut Frank Rubio will fly aboard a Soyuz rocket scheduled to take off on September 21 along with two Russian cosmonauts. American astronaut Loral O’Hara will also fly aboard a Russian spacecraft on a subsequent mission in the spring of 2023.
In addition, Anna Kikina, the only active female cosmonaut, will be part of the Crew-5 crew that will take off in September aboard a SpaceX rocket. And cosmonaut Andrei Fedyaev will fly with Crew-6, also in the spring of 2023.
After the closure of the American space shuttles in 2011, and until the first SpaceX flight to the ISS in 2020, the United States was forced to send American astronauts to the ISS by buying seats aboard Soyuz rockets from the Russian space agency.
Source: BFM TV
