If political conflict on the ground between the US and Russia stretches into outer space cooperation it could put lives at risk as well as scientific progress that's been a result of friendly relations, a former director of Johnson Space Center told RT.
George Abbey, the former director of the Johnson Space Center and
Fellow in Space Policy at the Baker Institute of Rice University,
spoke to RT in the aftermath of NASA’s announcement that it would
suspend “the majority of its ongoing engagements” with Russia’s
Roscosmos. The decision, which comes amid fresh tensions over the
events in Ukraine, could have both immediate and far-reaching
consequences.
RT:There had been a great spirit of
cooperation between the US and Russia in space. Washington wants
to sanction Moscow, so is that spirit paying the price of
politics?
George Abbey: I think if NASA takes some action,
as I understand they are going to, it’s going to be very
disappointing and certainly adversely affect our ability to
cooperate in space. We really have been able to work together in
space and it hasn’t been a political issue. Now we’re starting to
make it a political issue.
RT:You were in the heart of some of these
NASA operations, overseeing a number of missions to the ISS. Can
the Russian and American space partnership survive this?
GA: Our astronauts are training in Russia.
They’re well trained when they fly. And Russia not only launches
our astronauts, but Russia provides a rescue vehicle for the
space station for the six-month duration our astronauts are up
there. They also return them back to us safely. We’ve been flying
on the Soyuz. it’s a very reliable spacecraft and it’s very
essential to our operations on the station.
RT:Can you tell us where the scientific
community stands on the issue?
GA: It’s been very disappointing. Everyone that
I’ve spoken with, my fellow colleagues – both engineers and
scientists – were quite disappointed. We don’t think it’s a very
wise decision and it certainly can affect the safety of
operations in space. When you’re flying on an International Space
Station you want to enhance cooperation and enhance
communication, so when you start taking actions to lessen those
communications, it’s not a very safe action and it’s not a very
wise thing to do.
RT:NASA won't be able to launch manned
space flights for another three years. If Russia refuses to
cooperate, where will this leave the US space program?
GA: The United States right now is totally dependent on
our Russian partners. When we stopped flying the space shuttle,
we did away with our access to take humans to space and we rely
completely upon Russia. Russia does a very good job flying our
crewmen up to the space station, so if that were to end, the US
human flight program would not really be implemented in any
fashion until 2017 or much later.
RT:We don't know how long this relations
freeze will last – but how much damage is it doing now?
GA: I hope we don’t see any real effect on our
actions in the International Space Station. I think it’s
essential that we continue to work together and work together
well and certainly my Russian colleagues and my colleagues in
NASA who are on the space station feel very strongly that needs
to continue. I would be very disappointed if it starts carrying
over and affecting those operations, but there are some
activities over and aboard the International Space Station that
we really ought to be cooperating with Russia in space, and
that’s going to be adversely affected. It’s not the right thing
to do.
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.