(NewsNation Now) — NASA says all operations at the International Space Station are so far proceeding as they were before the invasion of Ukraine, even with many sanctions and embargoes being placed on Russia.
Russia plays a crucial role in the International Space Station’s mission. Created in 1998, the space station program brings together five countries’ international flight crews, vehicles and operations, according to its website.
Since its inception, the International Space Station has been developed into a complex nearly the length of a football field, with eight miles of electrical wiring, an acre of solar panels and three high-tech labs.
Although Japan, Canada and Europe help keep the station running, Russia and the U.S. bear the most responsibility for it. Russia is relied upon to provide the International Space Station’s propulsion, or to maintain its speed, so it can keep pushing forward.
Concerns have been raised in Congress about the impact the conflict in Ukraine could have on the International Space Station and lawmakers have exempted space cooperation from previous sanctions.
Should Russia pull out of the program, Kathy Lueders, NASA’s head of space operations, said the station would be very difficult for the agency to operate on its own.
The International Space Station, she said, has joint dependencies, “which is what makes it such an amazing program.”
Dmitry Rogozin, the head of Russia’s space agency, recently tweeted that his country could let the space station fall to earth. Right now, though, NASA said operations are still going peacefully.
There’s no immediate plan in place if Russia backs out of its space commitment. Aerospace contractor Northrop Grumman could possibly help and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has also offered his assistance.
SpaceX became the first private company to launch Americans to the space station in 2020 and recently dispatched its Starlink broadband internet service to Ukraine as disruptions have been part of Russia’s military assault.
Currently, there are four Americans, one German and two Russians onboard the ISS. The Russians and one of the Americans are scheduled to return to Earth later this month in a Russian-designed capsule.
“It would be a sad day for our international operations if we can’t continue to peacefully operate in space, and as a team, we’re doing that,” Lueders said.
