Unity on the International Space Station

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Source/Credit: Astronaut Leroy Chiao (right) attending a Red Square Memorial Ceremon in September 2004. Image from CNN.

As we await peace or war between Russia and Ukraine, US astronaut Leroy Chiao shared his thoughts about his cooperation with Russians at the International Space Station (ISS). He served as the copilot of a Russian Soyuz spacecraft to the ISS as well as the commander during Expedition 10.  In his CNN editorial, he emphasizes the importance of continued cooperation at the station even when partners are on opposing sides during ongoing conflicts:

In the early 2000s, a few years after the Kosovo war, I started training for my ISS mission in Star City, outside of Moscow. Not long after I started training in Russia there were conflicts in and around the Balkans and I remember times when we would hear heavy Russian transport aircraft taking off all night from the air base next to us, bringing troops and materiel to the conflict zones. We Americans discussed these issues with our Russian friends in the training program and I learned one of the wonderful things about living in other worlds is you develop perspective. You don’t necessarily agree, but you can appreciate the viewpoints of the other side.

Let’s hope the two-nation relationship is not tested further in the weeks to come. I like the idea of international cooperation as well as maintaining healthy competition in the realm of space endeavors.

Disarming Space Will Have to Wait

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Source/Credit: Satellite imagery showing the military buildup in Yelnya, Russia as of November 1, 2021 from Maxar Technologies/Getty Images.

Politico reported this week that Russia has asked that next week’s discussion at the United Nations (U.N.) about arms in space be delayed. It is possible the Russians are busy preparing for war in Ukraine and have little time to look up. But it should be possible to resolve matters here on the surface and in space.

The  U.N. Committee on Disarmament established a working group after seeking member input on the “…development and implementation of norms, rules and principles of responsible behaviours and on the reduction of the risks of misunderstanding and miscalculations with respect to outer space.” Sounds like a good idea to me. You can find the report with the members’ input here.

Here is part of what the United States submitted in its response to the U.N. query:

Some States are developing, operationalizing, and stockpiling a variety of [anti-satellite] weapons that could be used to, or have the potential to, deny, disrupt, degrade, or destroy civil, commercial, or national security space capabilities and services. Some of these anti-satellite weapons could be used to deny or disrupt space services temporarily, while others are designed to permanently degrade or destroy satellites.

These threats against satellites and their supporting systems can generally be divided into four categories: 1) ground-space; 2) space-space; 3) ground-ground; and 4) space-ground. Within these categories, the threats can be described as 1) reversible, which include temporary effects such as interference with radiofrequency signals or dazzling of remote sensing systems, or 2) irreversible, which include measures that degrade or destroy a satellite. The consequences of all categories of threats could include loss of mission data; decreased lifespan or capability of space systems or constellations; the loss of positive control of space vehicles, potentially resulting in collisions that could impair systems or generate harmful orbital debris; or damage to or destruction of the space system.

The working group should have plenty to discuss if it can get everyone together. Let’s hope the Ukrainian matter can be resolved peacefully to allow work to start on a stable peace in space as well.

Note: The dates on the article and U.N. schedule do not align, but the main point about the Russians being too busy to worry about a space war remains the same.

Pic of the Week: Russia’s Luna-25 Moon Station

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Source/Credit: The Luna-25 Moon Station from Russia’s Lavochkin Research and Production Association.

The image above is an artist’s rending of Russia’s Luna-25 Moon Station that was to be launched last year and is now scheduled to be launched in July 2022. It will be the first domestic spacecraft in the country’s modern history on the surface of the Moon. Luna-25 will be equipped with a soil-sampling robotic arm and camera to image the terrain. The last lunar mission was Luna-24 in 1976 by the then Soviet Union, which returned Moon samples to the Earth.

Follow-up: Other Anti-Satellite Tests

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Source: Indian Space Research Organization.

In an earlier posting, I pointed out that both China and Russia have left debris in orbit after conducting anti-satellite tests. To be fair, they are not alone. Back in March 2019, India also blew up one of its satellites with a ground-based missile, spreading debris and jeopardizing its own space program as well as that of others. Luckily, the explosion happened at a height that does not threaten the International Space Station or the majority of satellites in orbit. Moreover, most of the pieces of debris were expected to burn up and disappear quickly.

There have been other such anti-satellite missions as well, with the U.S, Russia, and China in the lead. So who started all of this, you may ask. The same Forbes story cited above makes it clear that the U.S. began this space arms race more than 60 years ago:

The U.S. tested its first anti-satellite missile in 1959, when the space lanes were mostly empty. Russia followed suit in the late 1960s and early 1970s, but after the end of the Cold War, space warfare mostly fell off the defense policy radar. 

The radar is active again given the continuing series of destructive anti-satellite missions in Earth’s orbit. You can add to this the various other secret spacecraft believed to already be in orbit to enhance each nation’s ability to kill another nation’s satellites. Things are pretty ugly on the ground these days, and the heavens above seem to be fair game as well.

Chinese Satellite Close Call

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Source: China’s Space Debris Monitoring and Application Center tracking of the satellite and debris – provided by CNN.

Orbiting the Earth is complicated enough without the Russians and other creating new obstacles. China recently learned about these hazards when one of its science satellites came close to colliding with debris created last November from a Russian anti-satellite test. China’s satellite missed the debris by about 48 feet, which the Chinese government called “extremely dangerous.” No kidding.

That same debris has threatened the International Space Station as well, which Russia also funds and occupies. It is not clear why Russia would endanger its own cosmonauts residing on the station.

That said, it is interesting that China is upset with Russia after similarly creating space debris back in 2007 part of its own anti-satellite experiments. The space community was similarly frustrated with the impact on orbiting spacecraft. In fact, the ISS had to dodge that debris as well last November.

Everyone’s spacecraft are at risk when we test weapons in space. We have to decide if we want to conduct science or simply give way to orbiting debris forevermore.