Deputy PM says Russia aims to end ISS participation in 2020

Discussion in 'Science and Technology' started by Brolan, May 14, 2014.

  1. Brolan

    Brolan Commodore Commodore

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    Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said Tuesday his country doesn't intend to use the International Space Station past the year 2020 and that this would effectively exclude the United States from using the orbiting laboratory.
    ...
    Deputy PM says Russia aims to end ISS participation in 2020

    I guess this is what we get for being too cheap to maintain our manned space program.
     
  2. gturner

    gturner Admiral

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    That was insignificant compared to what else he said, which is that ULA is banned from using the RD-180, which powers the Atlas-5, from launching US military satellites. It is presumed this also means that we'll no longer get any RD-180s. Perhaps the Administration shouldn't have targeted his personal finances without considering the consequences.
     
  3. Yminale

    Yminale Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Perhaps the Administration did think it over and realize we have a two year supply of RD-180's. When those run out there is still the Delta IV, Falcon Heavy or worse case scenario we can use Ariane 5 or H-IIB
     
  4. Yminale

    Yminale Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I don't think the US has any plans to maintain the ISS after 2024. If Russia pulls out we just de-orbit the ISS earlier and save a ton of money.
     
  5. gturner

    gturner Admiral

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    The Administration has yet to think anything over, and I doubt this is the one exception. The Russian PM threw a monkey wrench into DoD's space access, which is heavily dependent on the Atlas V. He said we can't use the Atlas V for military satellites, and it is their engine to which they retain the rights, so they can do that (Reagan did similar things). If we go ahead and use the existing stock of RD-180's for military launches, it gives the Russians a pretext to do bad things with the ISS.

    The Delta IV probably can't pick up the Atlas V flights, since it only performs three to four launches per year, and those are already booked, while the Atlas launches 5 to 8 times a year, and the vast majority of its launches are military payloads.
     
  6. Serveaux

    Serveaux Fleet Admiral Premium Member

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    They're doing quite a good job overall, thanks very much. :)
     
  7. gturner

    gturner Admiral

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    Only in stonewalling and avoiding prosecution. The rest of the world is pretty much burning their diplomatic bridges in an attempt to flee. Thus the ISS dust up.
     
  8. Serveaux

    Serveaux Fleet Admiral Premium Member

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    No.

    Sorry that you're disappointed by the inability of the GOP to gin up a real scandal or any substantial misconduct to build their campaigns on. I'm sure it seemed like an easy idea from the other side, given how consumed the Nixon, Reagan and Dubya administrations were by such things.
     
  9. MacLeod

    MacLeod Admiral Admiral

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    There are other launch systems capable of launching a satalite into space.
     
  10. Serveaux

    Serveaux Fleet Admiral Premium Member

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    We've got Superman.
     
  11. USS Triumphant

    USS Triumphant Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Go ahead, caller. I'm listening...
    It's silly to argue partisan politics on this particular issue. BOTH parties have continuously had administrations since LBJ that have been shortsighted and have gutted space exploration budgets.
    True, but he just isn't the same since he stopped wearing his underwear where everyone can see them. ;)
     
  12. JarodRussell

    JarodRussell Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Three options:
    - all of a sudden there's money for a space shuttle replacement
    - they dust the old space shuttle off
    - US manned space program ends for quite some time

    Or the 4th - unlikely - option, Putin gets removed at some point and his successor stops being an asshole idiot.
     
  13. Metryq

    Metryq Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    1. The shuttle was highly inefficient and thus way too expensive. It was a compromised program that looked good to the public, and the military liked it, but fell far short of its promised specs. Even non-reusable, purpose-built craft for cargo or personnel would have been much cheaper.
    2. See 1
    3. Turn to much more efficient private enterprise, like SpaceX. Or perhaps sell ISS to a private enterprise—assuming anyone would want it.
     
  14. USS Triumphant

    USS Triumphant Vice Admiral Admiral

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    5. They take the wraps off of this, and we discover we didn't absolutely need the Russians the whole time anyway?
     
  15. vulcan redshirt

    vulcan redshirt Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

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    6 - there's 5 and a half years to say sorry, make up and be friends again.
     
  16. JarodRussell

    JarodRussell Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Well, the Orion is what I consider a space shuttle replacement. Changing the dependency from Russia to China isn't a long term solution either.
     
  17. RobertVA

    RobertVA Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    The cargo version of Orion has visited the ISS enough times I suspect the crew version is quite a bit closer to being usable than some crew module to fit in the X-37. There's also the issue of the booster to get the X-37 into orbit.
     
  18. sojourner

    sojourner Admiral In Memoriam

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    The X37 is too small to fit crew in. That article on Jalopnik is terribly wrong on many levels.
     
  19. USS Triumphant

    USS Triumphant Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Well, okay. But still, isn't the rule of thumb for classified equipment in the military usually that if the public is allowed to know about it, it's because they already have something better? I wonder what other irons they have in that fire...
     
  20. gturner

    gturner Admiral

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    The proposal for a much larger, crewed version of the X-37 still requires an Atlas V to launch it, and the Atlas uses Russian engines, so we're back to the diplomatic problem.

    Also, Orion has never flown. It's the Dragon that goes up to the ISS.