Elon Musk says Space X will save the ISS after Russia threatens to drop it from orbit.
Elon Musk is showing that he is the man of the moment who can save the world, particularly
at this moment of unprecedented crisis rocking the world which is a result of the fallout
of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
With Russia threatening to pull out of the corporation with the west on the International
Space Station in response to the sanctions imposed on them.
Find out more in this video and how Elon Musk intends to save the ISS from falling stay
tuned!
The invasion of Ukraine by Russia has necessitated that world powers react to defend the Russian
neighbors.
The two countries have been at loggerheads for some time now up until Late February when
the Russian president decided to invade Ukraine.
But this has invoked sanctions on Russia as western countries target the Russian economy
with crippling sanctions.
But Russia has threatened to halt every form of cooperation with the west.
Russia and the west have cooperated on several fields notably is the collaboration on the
international space station.
With Russia being hit with sanctions, the nation has threatened to hit back by ending
collaboration at the international space station which would cause the international space
station to fall away somewhere in Europe or the United States.
This would certainly be disastrous for us all.
But then there is the man Elon who has offered to salvage the situation.
Elon Musk is the richest man on Earth and is often regarded as the greatest entrepreneur
in the 21st century.
He is currently the pioneer of private space exploration with his company Space X Responding
to the threat to disrupt the ISS Elon Musk said Space X would save the International
Space Station (ISS) from an uncontrolled deorbit after the head of Russia s space agency warned
it could crash into the US or Europe.
The threat came from the head of Roscosmos Dmitry Rogozin who claimed that it was the
Russian expertise that has kept the ISS in orbit, and suggested that sanctions against
Russia for its invasion of Ukraine could lead to a catastrophe.
Mr. Rogozin said and I quote If you block cooperation with us, who will save the ISS
from an uncontrolled deorbit and fall into the United States and Europe?
the space chief tweeted on Friday.
There is also the option of dropping a 500-ton structure to India and China.
Do you want to threaten them with such a prospect?
The ISS does not fly over Russia, so all the risks are yours.
Are you ready for them?
The threat came on the eve of US and Western sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.
The sanctions already have caused some havoc for the Russian economy as the economy has
begun to tumble.
The Russian rubble immediately hit its lowest against the dollar in years and it continues
to tumble in free fall.
Also, the immediate impact of the Sanction has caused the Moscow stock exchange to be
closed at the moment in China.
What is the fuss about the International Space Station??
The International Space Station (ISS) is a multi-nation construction project that is
the largest single structure humans ever put into space.
Its main construction was completed between 1998 and 2011, although the station continually
evolves to include new missions and experiments.
It has been continuously occupied since Nov. 2, 2000.
It is interesting to know that the International Space Station is a partnership between 10
European countries (represented by ESA), the United States (NASA), Japan (JAXA), Canada
(CSA), and Russia (Roscosmos), the ISS is the world's largest international cooperative
program in science and technology to date hence it is not owned by anyone.
It is important to know that the International Space Station is divided into two sections:
the Russian Orbital Segment (ROS), which Russia operates, and the United States Orbital Segment
(USOS), which the United States and other nations run.
While the Russian segment includes six modules, the U.S. segment consists of ten modules,
with support services distributed between NASA and the Japanese, Canadian and European
space agencies.
As of 2021, it is estimated that over 250 individuals from 19 countries have visited
the International Space Station.
The top participating countries include the United States (153 people) and Russia (50
people).
Astronaut time and research time on the space station are allocated to space agencies according
to how much money or resources (such as modules or robotics) they contribute.
The ISS includes contributions from 15 nations.
NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), and the European Space Agency are the major
partners of the space station who contribute most of the funding; the other partners are
the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency and the Canadian Space Agency.
Clearly, we can see that Russia is a major player with the ISS as it has a significant
contribution to the ISS.
NASA does rely on Russian propulsion to help control the International Space Station s
attitude or position and orientation in space, and periodically boost the station on its
orbit around Earth.
Without Russia, NASA would have to engineer a new solution to help keep the station on
the right path in space, so that the vehicle does not slowly fall out of orbit and enter
Earth s atmosphere.
If the Russians walk away, then you ve got this massive object that s going to come back
in randomly somewhere over the Earth, Wayne Hale, former program manager of NASA s Space
Shuttle and a member of NASA s Advisory Council, tells The Verge.
However, such a scenario would take quite a while to manifest, possibly giving NASA
some time to devise an alternate solution.
It s not like a week, it ll probably be several years, says Hale.
And that would mean an end to the ISS and this would most likely impact the world.
Mr. Rogozin is essentially implying that without Russia stepping in to take evasive measures,
the ISS could potentially fall onto one of these countries, which are periodically below
the station on its orbit.
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The truth is Elon Musk has demonstrated capabilities along this line by bringing about creative
invention.
But Elon Musk has a series of failed promises notably was the promise to find the missing
Thailand child, although the children were later found, Elon Musk's promise never materialized.
But this does not mean that Elon Musk doesn't always help.
For example, in this present Russian aggression against Ukraine, we have seen Elon Musk activate
his Starlink internet satellite connectivity for Ukraine.
What is Elon Musk proposing??
If Russia s involvement in the orbiting laboratory was to end before then, Mr. Musk has proposed
that the Russian Segment could be replaced by a SpaceX Dragon that could provide robust
capability and altitude control.
This is because a Russian spacecraft has kept the ISS in position till now and if the Russians
were to pull off from the collaboration they would also have to take out their spacecraft.
The Dragon spacecraft is the solution provided by Elon Musk.
The Dragon spacecraft is capable of carrying up to 7 passengers to and from Earth orbit,
and beyond.
It is the only spacecraft currently flying that is capable of returning significant amounts
of cargo to Earth and is the first private spacecraft to take humans to the space station.
The Dragon spacecraft is equipped with 16 Draco thrusters used to orient the spacecraft
during the mission, including apogee/perigee maneuvers, orbit adjustment, and attitude
control.
Each Draco thruster is capable of generating 90 pounds of force in the vacuum of space.
But would this work??
Well, we certainly don't know if it would work.
But would Russia leave the ISS cooperation?
Immediately after Mr. Rogozin made the comment of cutting collaboration, NASA sent a statement
via email in response to Rogozin's comments, saying the space agency "continues working
with all our international partners, including the State Space Corporation Roscosmos, for
the ongoing safe operations of the International Space Station.
"The new export control measures will continue to allow US-Russia civil space cooperation.
No changes are planned to the agency's support for ongoing in-orbit and ground station operations.
The new export control measures will continue to allow US-Russia civil space cooperation."
After NASA announced its intention to continue business as usual with Russia in orbit, Rogozin
backed off his belligerent tone, tweeting, "As diplomats say, 'our concerns have been
heard' In the meantime, we continue to analyze the new US sanctions to detail our response."
There are currently two Russian cosmonauts living on the ISS, alongside four American
astronauts and the European Space Agency's Matthias Maurer from Germany.
Notwithstanding the threat from Russia, it looks like the corporation would still be
one for the unforeseeable period even as three more Russian cosmonauts are set to launch
to the ISS.
Shortly thereafter, the two cosmonauts on board and one NASA astronaut will return to
Earth in a Russian capsule, touching down in Kazakhstan.
With this in mind, should we expect the Russians to stop collaboration?
And Can Elon Musk salvage the situation?
Be sure to check out our next video!!