NASA administrator Bill Nelson announced Friday that Russia is still committed to the International Space Station despite recent threats of a cease in partnership by Roscosmos director general Dmitry Rogozin.
Rogozin has threatened to disembark from the space station, allowing it to crash back to Earth in an uncontrolled orbit in protest of Russian sanctions imposed for their invasion of Ukraine. This seems to not be the case however as Nelson confirmed Russia’s plan to sent three cosmonauts to the ISS during an interview with CNBC.
“The Russians are still committed to the International Space Station by virtue of the fact that they’re going to lift off from Baikonur (Kazakhstan) today,” Nelson said.
The U.S. and Russia have worked together at the space station for decades as its’ functionality is depend on both countries’ participation. The partnership had already been severely damaged after Moscow tested an anti-satellite missile in November, debris from which threatened the ISS’s crew, according to NASA.
While Nelson acknowledges that Rogozin “spouts off every now and then,”
“The other people that work in the Russian civilian space program, they’re professional. They don’t miss a beat with us, American astronauts and American mission control,” Nelson stated.
Nelson’s declaration of continued cooperation comes amid an increasing number of companies that are shutting down their business operations in Russia — not to mention other efforts to cancel performances by Russian opera singers and musicians in Western countries, block Russian tennis players from competing at Wimbledon, and even ban Russian felines from cat shows.
Watch the video above via CNBC.