Obama's Latest Russia Sanctions Threatens ISS Missions

Above, Endeavour in Inglewood, California en route to its final resting place in Exposition Park. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The recent annexation of the Crimea by Russia's Vladimir Putin and other moves against Ukraine are reprehensible. Obama's sanctions against Russia have little chance of getting Vlad the Invader to change his ways.

Sanctions have been used on several countries. Iran, North Korea and Syria. They've never worked.

The latest round of sanctions targets certain members of Russia's government. One of which is the overseer of the Russian space program. Herein lies the major problem.

According Investors.com:

Because Obama allowed the U.S. space shuttle program to die in 2011, scores of missions short of the crafts' designed lifespans, the only way for American astronauts to reach space and return now is in Soyuz spacecraft atop Russian rockets. This relinquished America's hard-won space superiority. The U.S. has also withdrawn from future joint Mars missions, its spot taken by Russia. 

Dmitry Rogozin is Putin's Deputy Prime Minister overseeing defense and space programs. He's also among Putin confidantes targeted with asset freezes and travel bans. 

He warned vaguely, but ominously, Tuesday that the latest sanctions on Russia's science industry had the potential for also hurting Americans in space dependent on Russian technology and logistics for survival. "We warned them," he said, "we will reply to statements with statements, to actions with actions." 

Then, a defiant Rogozin added mockingly: “After analyzing the sanctions against our space industry, I suggest the U.S. deliver its astronauts to the ISS with a trampoline."

It costs U.S. taxpayers $60 million for a seat on Russia's Soyuz spacecraft. That's money we could have spent on the next generation manned spacecraft. In the meantime, the shuttle could have flown another five years or more, according to NASA estimates, until the new spacecraft was ready. The shuttles are now museum pieces and we're without an operational spacecraft (or even a giant trampoline). We're at the mercy of the Russians in getting to the International Space Station.

Good going, Barry!

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