The escalating crisis between Russia and the United States over the Crimea issue is unlikely to affect the cooperation between both the countries in space missions, experts said.
When asked whether astronauts would not be carried by Russian rockets to the International Space Station amid the ongoing Ukraine crisis, American scientist John Logsdon said, “The United States in the space area is more dependent on Russia than Russia on the United States.”
Logsdon is a member of the NASA Advisory Council.
Logsdon said that both the countries are mutually dependent on each other to ensure the functioning of ISS. Moreover, the station cannot work successfully without the support of the Texas-based American mission control centre. Therefore, Russia requires US support. But, he stresses that the United States are in more need of Russia.
According to the experts, the burgeoning political unrest is unlikely to adversely impact the affable relationship between the old Cold War foes aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
“We could talk about anything. We’d talk about politics. With something like this going on, I am sure the crew is talking about it, you know, in a friendly way”, said retired US astronaut Leroy Chiao, who commanded the ISS for six months in 2004 and 2005.
American astronaut Mike Hopkins said his Russian counterparts were close friends and cooperation from them was very strong. Hopkins has returned from the ISS earlier this month after staying at the space station for six months.