NASA has announced that it will be cutting off further collaboration with the Russian Federation in response to the current issue in Ukraine.
Since the NASA space shuttle program was scuttled back in 2011, the agency has been relying almost exclusively on Russia for transportation up into space. However, the recent events following the annexation of Crimea and the troop buildup of Russian forces in the Ukraine-Russia border is stretching relations between Russia and many western countries to the breaking point. The latest NASA announcement serves to emphasize how seriously the US government is taking the Ukraine issue.
"Given Russia's ongoing violation of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, NASA is suspending the majority of its ongoing engagements with the Russian Federation," says NASA in a post on their Google+ page. "NASA and Roscosmos will, however, continue to work together to maintain safe and continuous operation of the International Space Station."
While NASA has suspended a large number of their contacts with the Russian Federation's space agency, NASA is reiterating that the collaborative efforts involving the International Space Station (ISS) will remain unaffected. The ISS represents the most significant collaborative effort between the two space agencies. NASA says that it remains committed to developing domestic spaceflight capabilities as soon as possible.
"NASA is laser focused on a plan to return human spaceflight launches to American soil, and end our reliance on Russia to get into space," says NASA. "This has been a top priority of the Obama Administration's for the past five years, and had our plan been fully funded, we would have returned American human spaceflight launches - and the jobs they support - back to the United States next year."
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the thawing of the lingering effects of the Cold War, the U.S. and Russia have developed and fostered a fruitful relationship in terms of space travel and exploration. Moreover, the relationship between the space agencies of both countries have been relatively untouched by political upheavals between the two countries. However, the current problems in Eastern Europe has stretched the relationship to its limits. Moreover, it has become almost impossible for NASA officials to keep shuttling back and forth between Russia as the political upheaval intensifies.
Due to the currently strained relationship, NASA may be beefing up its preparations to restore its spaceflight capabilities. However, the agency will still have to get past Congress if it hopes get the necessary funding to complete its current orbital delivery and spaceflight projects.
"With the reduced level of funding approved by Congress, we're now looking at launching from U.S. soil in 2017," NASA adds. "The choice here is between fully funding the plan to bring space launches back to America or continuing to send millions of dollars to the Russians. It's that simple. The Obama Administration chooses to invest in America - and we are hopeful that Congress will do the same."
