The U.S.-Russia space partnership historically has transcended political tension

 

Amid the Russia-Ukraine war, rising tensions between Russia and the U.S. could have implications for the two nations' partnerships² in space — particularly aboard the International Space Station.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Tensions between Russia and the United States on Earth may have implications for the two nations' partnerships in space. From WMFE in Orlando, Brendan Byrne reports.

BRENDAN BYRNE, BYLINE³: In the winter of 2015, an American astronaut on the International Space Station had a unique perspective on the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

TERRY VIRTS: We're looking out the window, and there's red flashes. And it's like, boom. And it hit me, we're watching people being killed on Earth.

BYRNE: Astronaut Terry Virts was commanding the orbiting lab, a joint⁴ partnership¹ with several nations, including the U.S. and Russia. He and his Russian colleagues, called cosmonauts, looked on at the fighting below. Virts, who is now retired⁵ from NASA, recalls despite what was happening on the ground, he and his crewmates were focused on the mission at hand.

BYRNE: Here we are working together. Our goal is just not to die. We're in space. We're just trying to survive.

BYRNE: There are currently seven people on the ISS - four Americans, two Russians and one German. For more than two decades, the station has hosted an international crew that works together despite the geopolitics back on Earth. NASA's Kathy Lueders is the head of the agency's human space program and says so far the two agencies are cooperating, both up there and down here.

KATHY LUEDERS: We're continuing to monitor the situation. But, you know, our control centers are operating nominally⁶ together. We've gotten the support we needed.

BYRNE: The head of Russia's space program, Roscosmos, hasn't been as diplomatic. Last week, Dmitry Rogozin questioned the future of the U.S.-Russian partnership in space, halted delivery of U.S. rocket engines and compared American rockets to, quote, "broomsticks." Historically, the U.S.-Russian partnership has transcended⁷ political tensions here on Earth. But Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the U.S.'s response may erode⁸ that relationship. Roger Handberg is a political scientist at the University of Central Florida who focuses on defense⁹ and space policy.

ROGER HANDBERG: One way that they can immediately damage the United States in terms of space station is to say, OK, we're going to take our piece and go home.

BYRNE: The International Space Station is essentially¹⁰ two halves - one operated by Russia and the other maintained by the U.S. The Russian side of the space station is responsible for keeping the station in orbit. So far, the hatches between the two halves remain open. Charlie Bolden was a NASA astronaut and served as the agency's administrator¹¹ during the Obama administration. He says that while the partnership has endured geopolitics for decades, just how long that relationship can now last is unclear.

CHARLIE BOLDEN: This is different. This is dramatically different.

BYRNE: The long-term fate of the station may now be at risk, says space policy analyst¹² Laura Forczyk. Russia, even before the invasion of Ukraine, was hesitant to join NASA beyond 2024, even though the U.S. has agreed to extend its support of the space station through 2030.

LAURA FORCYZK: But at this point, I think that might even be optimistic.

BYRNE: Commercial partners, like SpaceX, have helped NASA end the nearly decade-long reliance on Russia for rides to the station, and the agency hopes commercial partners will help build a new space station to replace the ISS without Russia.

Some space missions have already been impacted by these growing diplomatic tensions. The European Space Agency was set to launch a robotic mission to Mars on a Russian rocket. In a statement issued last week, the agency says due to rising tensions and sanctions against Russia, a planned launch this year is very unlikely. A Russian launch of commercial satellites from British company OneWeb was canceled.

But for the seven space station astronauts, Virts's advice is to remain united.

VIRTS: Let's focus on our crew. Let's focus on our mission. And we can worry about Earth when we get back to Earth.

BYRNE: One American astronaut, Mark Vande Hei, is set to make that return to Earth this month on a Russian spacecraft.

For NPR News, I'm Brendan Byrne in Orlando.

(SOUNDBITE OF EVOCATIV'S "ECHO")

1 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

2 partnerships   

n.伙伴关系( partnership的名词复数 )；合伙人身份；合作关系

参考例句：

• Partnerships suffer another major disadvantage: decision-making is shared. 合伙企业的另一主要缺点是决定要由大家来作。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• It involved selling off limited partnerships. 它涉及到售出有限的合伙权。 来自辞典例句

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

5 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

6 nominally   

在名义上，表面地； 应名儿

参考例句：

• Dad, nominally a Methodist, entered Churches only for weddings and funerals. 爸名义上是卫理公会教徒，可只去教堂参加婚礼和葬礼。
• The company could not indicate a person even nominally responsible for staff training. 该公司甚至不能指出一个名义上负责职员培训的人。

7 transcended   

超出或超越（经验、信念、描写能力等）的范围( transcend的过去式和过去分词 )； 优于或胜过…

参考例句：

• He wanted assurance that he had transcended what was inherently ambiguous. 他要证明，他已经超越了本来就是混淆不清的事情。
• It transcended site to speak to universal human concerns. 它超越了场所的局限，表达了人类共同的心声。

8 erode   

v.侵蚀，腐蚀，使...减少、减弱或消失

参考例句：

• Once exposed,soil is quickly eroded by wind and rain.一旦暴露在外，土壤很快就会被风雨侵蚀。
• Competition in the financial marketplace has eroded profits.金融市场的竞争降低了利润。

9 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

10 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

11 administrator   

n.经营管理者，行政官员

参考例句：

• The role of administrator absorbed much of Ben's energy.行政职务耗掉本很多精力。
• He has proved himself capable as administrator.他表现出管理才能。

12 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。