It was already bad enough the United States had self-created its dependency on an enemy. Now it’s in a position that’s hard to get out of now that NASA has been gutted. Some would argue it’s easy to become independent again, but since when has the government acted with urgency and efficiency when it’s for the nation’s own good?
NASA has few other options for sending people to the space station.
Russia will not conduct any more space launches to send U.S. astronauts to the International Space Station after 2018, according to a release issued by the country’s TASS news agency.
“We are working with our partners under the effective contracts, but we have no plans for concluding new ones,” Sergey Saveliev, the deputy chief of Russia’s state-run space agency Roscosmos, told TASS.
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Unfortunately, this has put the United States at the mercy of Russia in the event any kind of conflict would arise. “We’re in a hostage situation,” former NASA administrator Michael Griffin once told ABC News. “Russia can decide that no more U.S. astronauts will launch to the International Space Station, and that’s not a position that I want our nation to be in.”
The situation hit a nadir when Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin tweeted in 2014:
“After analyzing the sanctions against our space industry, I suggest to the USA to bring their astronauts to the International Space Station using a trampoline.”
It seems Russia is now making good on subtle threats in the last few years to end their space relationship with the U.S.
Full article: Russia Will Not Send U.S. Astronauts to ISS After 2018 (Inverse)
Global Geopolitics 