Deputy PM says Russia aims to end ISS participation in 2020

[Brolan]

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.

 

[gturner]

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.

 

[Yminale]

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.

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

 

[Yminale]

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said Tuesday his country doesn't intend to use the International Space Station past the year 2020

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.

 

[gturner]

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.

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

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.

 

[Mudd]

The Administration has yet to think anything over...

They're doing quite a good job overall, thanks very much.

 

[gturner]

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.

 

[Mudd]

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.

 

[MacLeod]

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

 

[Mudd]

We've got Superman.

 

[USS Triumphant]

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.

We've got Superman.

True, but he just isn't the same since he stopped wearing his underwear where everyone can see them.

 

[JarodRussell]

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.

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.

 

[Metryq]

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

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.

 

[USS Triumphant]

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.

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.

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

 

[vulcan redshirt]

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

 

[JarodRussell]

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.

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.

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

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.

 

[RobertVA]

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.

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.

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

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.

 

[sojourner]

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

 

[USS Triumphant]

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

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...

 

[gturner]

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.