Senators: Space station jeopardized by Georgia conflict
The Russia-Georgia conflict has US senators worrying about NASA's future in the International Space Station project. As it is now, US law may eventually prohibit NASA from enlisting the help of its only way into space after 2011.
Senators Bill Nelson (D - Fla.) and Barbara Mikulski (D - Md.) -- who is incidentally the chair of the Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations Subcommittee that funds NASA -- expressed concerns that if the conflict erodes US-Russian relations, NASA may have no way to reach the International Space Station.
Since the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster of 2003, NASA has traveled to the orbiting lab on Russia's Soyuz capsule, the longest-serving manned spacecraft in the world.
The International Space Station began construction in 1998, and has had a full-time staff on board since November 2000, with crews of three working on a rotating schedule. The current crew consists of two cosmonauts who have been aboard since April 2008 and one astronaut who joined in late May. Their missions are scheduled to end in October.
However, the Iran, North Korea, Syria Non-Proliferation Act, which became law in 2000, bans the the US from purchasing services from countries that trade nuclear or ballistic supplies with Iran. Were it not for a 2005 exemption in the bill expressly related to the United States' use of the Soyuz capsule, Russia's dealings with Iran would render the Russian Space Agency off-limits to US organizations.
From the bill:
(1) it is the policy of the Government of the Russian Federation to oppose the proliferation to Iran of weapons of mass destruction and missile systems capable of delivering such weapons;
(2) such government has demonstrated through the implementation of concrete steps a commitment to seek out and prevent the transfer to Iran of goods, services, and technology that could make a material contribution to the development of nuclear, biological, or chemical weapons, or of ballistic or cruise missile systems, including through the imposition of penalties on persons who make such transfers; and
(3) neither the Russian Space Agency, nor any organization under its control, has, during the one-year period prior to the determination, made transfers to Iran of controlled goods, services, or technology or non-controlled goods, services, or technology with potential to make a material contribution to Iran's development of nuclear, biological, or chemical weapons, or of ballistic or cruise missile systems."
The exemption will expire in 2011, but NASA's Constellation Program is not expected to be completed until 2015. Until that time, the sole means of transport for US astronauts was the Soyuz capsule.
Nelson recently spoke to the Orlando Sentinel, expressing how difficult it has been to get Congressional support for the waiver that will extend US access to Soyuz. Russia's invasion of neighboring Georgia, he believes, will only make it harder.
"There will be consequences not just for Russia but for the US, too. That's a hundred billion dollar investment up there that we won't have access to," Nelson told reporters.