Ukraine Crisis Straining U.S.' Reliance on Russian Space Program: Official Says NASA Astronauts Can Use 'a Trampoline' to Get to ISS
ByNASA may soon have to find its own way to space because Russia's space agency is apparently ticked with the American government.
According to NBC News, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin lashed out in response to sanctions imposed on his country for the Ukraine crisis. He said it did not make sense for the U.S. to penalize the country they rely on to shuttle back and forth between the International Space Station (ISS).
"After analyzing the sanctions against our space industry, I suggest to the USA to bring their astronauts to the International Space Station using a trampoline," he wrote in a Russian language Twitter post.
The head of the Russian space program, Rogozin said the U.S.'s sanctions would affect Europe's space agency as well. The U.S. included Rogozin in a list of Russian officials whose funds should immediately be frozen. Currently, Russia uses their own rockets to launch European satellites and take NASA astronauts to and from the ISS.
"I am sick and tired of these sanctions, to be honest," he told reporters in the Crimean city of Simferopol that Russia has recently annexed. "They don't understand that the sanctions will hit them like a boomerang."
SpaceX, the space exploration company owned by billionaire Elon Musk, is an obvious winner should the U.S. be forced to no longer rely on Russian rockets. SpaceX recently completed its third resupply mission to the ISS, this time using a rocket that can soft land back on Earth and potentially be reused.
The rocket would save NASA and billions of dollars if successful and the sanctions against Russia could give companies like SpaceX and Orbital Sciences a lot more business.
The U.S. and Russia have had a confusing relationship since the latter entered Ukraine. The U.S. has been opposed to Russia's actions, but has paid their space agency to shuttle NASA's astronauts to and from the ISS. The two countries have kept the two affairs separate until now.
Musk also took the opportunity to jab back Rogozin and to plug a SpaceX product.