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Russia officially quits the International Space Station (ISS)

  • Posted By
    10Pointer
  • Categories
    World Affairs
  • Published
    5th May, 2022

Context

Russia is responding to the Western sanctions. It has decided to walk out of the International Space Station.

About International Space Station

  • The ISS was launched in 1998 as part of joint efforts by the U.S., Russia, Japan, Canada and Europe.
  • The idea of a space station originated in the 1984 State of the Union address by former U.S. President Ronald Reagan.
  • The International Space Station (ISS) is a space station, or a habitable artificial satellite, in low Earth orbit.
  • Its first component launched into orbit in 1998, and the ISS is now the largest human-made body in low Earth orbit.
  • It circles the Earth in roughly 92 minutes and completes 15.5 orbits per day.
  • The ISS serves as a microgravity and space environment research laboratory in which crew members conduct experiments in biology, human biology, physics, astronomy, meteorology, and other fields.
  • Five different space agencies representing 15 countries built the $100-billion International Space Station and continue to operate it today.
  • The ISS was originally built to operate for 15 years.
  • The ISS programme is a joint project between five participating space agencies-
    • NASA (United States)
    • Roscosmos (Russia)
    • JAXA (Japan)
    • ESA (Europe)
    • CSA (Canada)
  • Its ownership and use has been established by intergovernmental treaties and agreements.
  • Continuous presence at ISS has resulted in the longest continuous human presence in low earth orbit.
  • It is expected to operate until 2030.
    • NASA plans to decommission it in 2031.

Russia’s role in maintaining the ISS

  • The ISS is built with the cooperation of scientists from five international space agencies — NASA of the U.S., Roscosmos of Russia, JAXA of Japan, Canadian Space Agency and the European Space Agency.
  • Each agency has a role to play and a share in the upkeep of the ISS.
  • Both in terms of expense and effort, it is not a feat that a single country can support.
  • Russia’s part in the collaboration is the module responsible for making course corrections to the orbit of the ISS.
  • They also ferry astronauts to the ISS from the Earth and back.
  • Until SpaceX’s dragon spacecraft came into the picture the Russian spacecrafts were the only way of reaching the ISS and returning.

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