US to extend ISS operations to 2030

The United States is expanding its operations on ships International Space Station to 2030, NASA confirmed on Friday in a blog post. “The International Space Station is a beacon of peaceful international scientific cooperation and has for over 20 years brought about tremendous scientific, educational and technological developments to benefit humanity. ,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement.

While it was never in doubt that the United States would continue its short-term commitment to the ISS, NASA’s announcement comes amid rising tensions with Russia, one of a number of countries that share access to the ISS. The universe. 2021 also sees Russia increase its cooperation in space with China, another US adversary, such as New York Times note in june.

Fall 2021 sees many emergencies aboard the ISS, both of which the US blames Russia. In October, surprise fire test from a Russian spacecraft docked causing the ISS to tilt from its normal position, prompting a short evacuation of crew members. (Funny caption: The spacecraft that caused the crash was in space so a Russian crew could film it first feature film on the Space Station.) Then, in November, the satellite debris forcing ISS astronauts to seek shelter on the day of the Russian missile attack. The US condemned Russia for the attack. Russia does not admit any wrongdoing.

Later that month, in an unrelated episode, Russia’s space agency, Roscosmos, open to possible criminal charges related to a 2018 incident involving a hole in one of its spacecraft, which Russian media hinted could be the result of US sabotage. Nelson told Ars Technica in November.

In its statement on Friday, NASA highlighted among the projects that are continuing to send humans to Mars, as well as Project Artemis, an attempt to send the first woman and the first person of color to the Moon. Indeed, NASA underwent a reorganization in September that seems to specifically reflect its priorities around the Moon and Mars.