Photo: ESA
Never in the history of the world did a conflict down on the surface of our planet spill out into outer space. But word is there’s a beginning for everything, and the standoff between the Western world and Russia over the latter’s actions in Ukraine seems to be the beginning for such a spillage.
It’s been a tense week, even in areas we, average Joes, never thought conflict would come. Like say in space exploration, a human activity that almost never cares about dissensions between governments and armies.
That changed over the past few days, with Dmitry Rogozin, the head of Roscosmos, asking “who will save the ISS from an uncontrolled de-orbit” if the Russians no longer cater to keeping the station in place, safe from burning up in the atmosphere.
It also changed with Russia pulling out from joint operations with the European Space Agency (ESA) at the Kourou Spaceport in French Guiana, forcing the Europeans to find alternatives to the Soyuz rocket.
And, as a twist, current events seem to have far-reaching effects when it comes to mid-term plans as well. This year, ESA was planning to use a Russian Proton-M rocket to launch the continent’s first rover to an alien world, the Rosalind Franklin.
Franklin, part of the ExoMars mission, was supposed to leave our planet in the fall, and land sometime next year in the Oxia Planum region of Mars, where it would have looked for signs of life. The timetable is no longer valid, said ESA this week, without giving any indication of an alternative solution.
“Regarding the ExoMars programme continuation, the sanctions and the wider context make a launch in 2022 very unlikely,” the space agency said in a statement.
“ESA’s Director General will analyse all the options and prepare a formal decision on the way forward by ESA Member States.”
That changed over the past few days, with Dmitry Rogozin, the head of Roscosmos, asking “who will save the ISS from an uncontrolled de-orbit” if the Russians no longer cater to keeping the station in place, safe from burning up in the atmosphere.
It also changed with Russia pulling out from joint operations with the European Space Agency (ESA) at the Kourou Spaceport in French Guiana, forcing the Europeans to find alternatives to the Soyuz rocket.
And, as a twist, current events seem to have far-reaching effects when it comes to mid-term plans as well. This year, ESA was planning to use a Russian Proton-M rocket to launch the continent’s first rover to an alien world, the Rosalind Franklin.
Franklin, part of the ExoMars mission, was supposed to leave our planet in the fall, and land sometime next year in the Oxia Planum region of Mars, where it would have looked for signs of life. The timetable is no longer valid, said ESA this week, without giving any indication of an alternative solution.
“Regarding the ExoMars programme continuation, the sanctions and the wider context make a launch in 2022 very unlikely,” the space agency said in a statement.
“ESA’s Director General will analyse all the options and prepare a formal decision on the way forward by ESA Member States.”
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