Photo: JIM WATSON / AFP / Getty Images
The charismatic and sometimes controversial billionaire Elon Musk seems willing to do anything to help his country in the face of threats from Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Musk has made himself available to rescue the International Space Station (ISS) in the event that Russia fulfills its promise to leave said laboratory, as retaliation.
It turns out that the guardianship of the International Space Station is shared by the United States and for nothing more and nothing less than Russia; a country that is currently rejected and sanctioned by almost all the countries of the world due to its invasion and bombing of Ukraine, today in its sixth day.
Due to this armed conflict and the measures taken by the United States to force Russia to back down on its actions, the director of Roscosmos, the Russian Space Agency, Dimitry Rogozin has indicated that they could leave the space laboratory and become independent, and this would have serious consequences for the United States or for Europe.
“If you block cooperation with us, who will save the ISS from de-orbiting? uncontrolled that could fall on the United States or Europe?”
Rogozin, did a thread of tweets asking US President Joe Biden, as a challenge, if he was ready to manage the ISS himself, that is, alone, the ISS. He let it be known on his Twitter account a few days ago and insisted on the subject a few hours ago, today March 1:
сосредоточится на достижении полной импортонезависимости в вопросах космического приборостроения. Основные конструкторские, Технологические и финансовые ресурсы, Высвобождаемые из совместных с сша и евросоюзом pic.twitter.com/uRVVDpix— РОГОЗИН (@Rogozin) March 1, 2021
Insinuation or threat that was immediately answered by Elon Musk himself with another tweet that only showed the SpaceX emblem.
Other tweeters asked Elon Musk if SpaceX can really prevent the ISS from falling to Earth and the billionaire did not hesitate to answer “YES”.
The experts explained that it is true that the structure of the International Space Station can, in addition to suffering a fall, it can go off course and crash. What was a little the threatening idea left in the air by the Russian official.
In addition to the missions scheduled for this 2022 to the ISS, currently from the astronauts living on the station; 4 belong to NASA, that is, they are Americans and 3 are Russians.
The millionaire investment by the United States in this space station is estimated at between $3, million and $4,000 million dollars per year. And it is on the agenda of the US government to expand the operations of this program at least until 2030.
In the history of joint space programs between the United States and Russia, it was achieved work as a team in the 2014, when the invasion of Crimea took place. At the time, the United States needed a Russian launcher for its astronauts.
This time it seems that Elon Musk and his offer with SpaceX can make an important difference that sets the tone for this 2021 and in the future of space programs.