NASA has suspended certain activities with Russia. But the space station is exempt, and the rift highlights that, for the next few years, the US can't send astronauts into space without Russia. 
 
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 A spacecraft carrying a NASA astronaut and two Russian astronauts docks on March 27 at the International Space Station later than scheduled after dealing with a technical issue mid-flight. 
 
 The International Space Station, long a symbol of international cooperation in space even among former adversaries, could become the next pressure point as the US tries to raise the stakes for Moscow after Russia's takeover and annexation of Crimea. 
 
 On Wednesday, Michael O'Brien, NASA's associate administrator for international and interagency relations issued a memo to the agency's staff suspending bilateral contacts with Russia unless a specific activity has been given an exemption. 
 
 "This suspension includes NASA travel to Russia and visits by Russian Government representatives to NASA facilities, bilateral meetings, email, and teleconferences or videoconferences." wrote Mr. O'Brien. A copy of the memo was posted on the website SpaceRef.com. 
 
 Bilateral contacts related to the operation of the space station are exempt, as are meetings held outside of Russia that involved additional countries – such as those that might be include the participation of the station's other main partners, Canada, Europe, and Japan. 
 
 NASA's move is something of a diplomatic Post-it note; the two countries' space programs aren't engaged in many bilateral activities. Indeed, should operation of the space station come directly into play, the US and the other partners have the most to lose. 
 
 They have the heaviest investment in the $150 billion orbiting outpost, and they cannot get into space without Russia, which has served as America's taxi service for delivering and retrieving US crew members from the space station, as well as delivering cargo to the station. 
 
 So far, the Ukraine crisis has not interrupted US-Russia cooperation on the space station. But with the issuance of NASA's memo Wednesday, the question everyone is waiting to see answered is how Russian President Vladimir Putin responds. 
 
 "Is he going to be a rational international leader, or is he going to going to go the way of the egomaniac autocrat?" asks Joan Johnson-Freese, a professor at the US Naval War College in Newport, R.I., and a specialist on space-security and space-policy issues. 
 
 The motive behind including the Russians in the space station in first place stemmed partly from the country's experience with its own space station, Mir. But it also stemmed from a desire after the fall of the Soviet Union to keep Russian rocket scientists from finding work in countries whose intentions toward the US were anything but honorable. 
 
 NASA's move comes as no surprise, says Dr. Johnson-Freese. 
 
 Congress has banned NASA from working with China because of concerns about technology transfers and human rights. If NASA were to continue to work with Russia, that would say, "It's OK to take over someone else's sovereign territory," she says. 
 
 "If the United States wants to avoid looking extremely hypocritical, this was going to be coming," she says. 
 
 One US astronaut and two cosmonauts arrived at the station March 27 after a two-day trip aboard a Russian Soyuz capsule. On April 9, Russia is slated to launch a Progress resupply craft to the station. 
 
 Even so, Wednesday's memo is expected to intensify the debate in Congress over restoring NASA's ability to launch astronauts from US soil. With the end of the US space shuttle program in 2010, Russia became the only country in the partnership able to transport crew members. 
 
 "We've always known that dependence carries risks," Johnson-Freese says. But the risk "has been exponentially magnified" by recent events. 
 
 NASA has contracted with commercial providers such as Space Exploration Technologies, Sierra Nevada Corporation, and Boeing to develop launch systems that can carry humans. The agency will eventually select one for actual transportation contracts. 
 
 But some lawmakers have been lukewarm about the commercial approach, and the agency has been directed to continue developing a multipurpose launch system for low-Earth orbit and deep-space exploration. 
 
 The first flight for "commercial crew" initially was envisioned for 2015, but funding hasn't kept pace. Now the first flights aren't anticipated until 2017. Meanwhile, each seat on a Soyuz runs about $71 million, up from $51 million when the US first began buying seats after the shuttle program ended, according to an analysis by the National Space Society, which supports commercial development of space. 
 
 The Obama administration's fiscal 2015 budget request seeks $848 million to keep the commercial-crew program on track for 2017. And advocates would like to see Congress restore $171 million withheld from the program during the current fiscal year. ||||| MOSCOW, April 3 (RIA Novosti) - Washington's decision to freeze cooperation between the NASA space agency and its Russian counterpart on a slew of joint projects will hurt global space partnership but won't be the end of the Russian space program, Director of the Space Policy Institute Ivan Moiseyev told RIA Novosti Thursday. 
 
 NASA issued a statement saying it put most of its joint missions with Russia on hold indefinitely. The only exception is the "operational International Space Station activities," the agency's associate administrator Michael O'Brien said in a memo. 
 
 "The statement was way too harsh," Ivan Moiseyev told RIA Novosti. He warned NASA that its move would have a "rather significant" impact on space exploration projects globally. 
 
 "Modern space science is a global phenomenon that benefits all countries," Moiseyev noted. "It means that many large-scale projects require an international effort. A freeze on cooperation will spur a serious backlash against the international space program." 
 
 The space pundit added that, despite being something that Russia would never want for space science, this freeze was unlikely to have any catastrophic repercussions for its industry. Russia will simply have to adjust its projects to the new reality, he explained. 
 
 Russia's senior space official said earlier in an interview with RIA Novosti that Russia didn't depend much on the United States, as far as space industry goes. 
 
 This comes as the United States, European Union and their allies continue to ratchet up diplomatic pressure on Russia following its re-unification with the Russian-majority Crimea peninsula, which was taken over by Ukraine after the Soviet fall. 
 
 Measures include sanctions against Russian and Crimean officials and businesses, who had their foreign assets seized. 
 
 In a recent development, NATO member states suspended cooperation with Moscow allegedly until Russia changed its stand on the Ukrainian crisis, prompting the Russian Foreign Office to accuse the allies of trying to manhandle the country into accepting their viewpoint. ||||| NASA Statement regarding suspension of some NASA activities with Russian Government representatives 
 
 Press Release From: NASA HQ 
 
 Posted: Wednesday, April 2, 2014 
 
 Given Russia's ongoing violation of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, NASA is suspending the majority of its ongoing engagements with the Russian Federation. NASA and Roscosmos will, however, continue to work together to maintain safe and continuous operation of the International Space Station. NASA is laser focused on a plan to return human spaceflight launches to American soil, and end our reliance on Russia to get into space. This has been a top priority of the Obama Administration's for the past five years, and had our plan been fully funded, we would have returned American human spaceflight launches - and the jobs they support - back to the United States next year. With the reduced level of funding approved by Congress, we're now looking at launching from U.S. soil in 2017. The choice here is between fully funding the plan to bring space launches back to America or continuing to send millions of dollars to the Russians. It's that simple. The Obama Administration chooses to invest in America - and we are hopeful that Congress will do the same. 
 
 // end // 
 
 More news releases and status reports or top stories. 
 
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 Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. ||||| NASA Internal Memo: Suspension of NASA contact with Russian entities 
 
 Status Report From: NASA HQ 
 
 Posted: Wednesday, April 2, 2014 
 
 From: O'Brien, Michael F (HQ-TA000) 
 
 Sent: Wednesday, April 02, 2014 9:33 AM 
 
 To: [Deleted] 
 
 Cc: [Deleted] 
 
 
 
 Subject: Suspension of NASA contact with Russian entities 
 
 Dear Colleagues, 
 
 Given Russia's ongoing violation of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, until further notice, the U.S. Government has determined that all NASA contacts with Russian Government representatives are suspended, unless the activity has been specifically excepted. This suspension includes NASA travel to Russia and visits by Russian Government representatives to NASA facilities, bilateral meetings, email, and teleconferences or videoconferences. At the present time, only operational International Space Station activities have been excepted. In addition, multilateral meetings held outside of Russia that may include Russian participation are not precluded under the present guidance. If desired, our office will assist in communication with Russian entities regarding this suspension of activities. Specific questions regarding the implementation of this guidance can be directed to Ms. Meredith McKay, 202.358.1240 or meredith.mckay@nasa.gov, in our office. 
 
 We remain in close contact with the Department of State and other U.S. Government departments and agencies. If the situation changes, further guidance will be disseminated. 
 
 Obie 
 
 Michael F. O'Brien 
 
 Associate Administrator for International and Interagency Relations 
 
 National Aeronautics and Space Administration 
 
 Statement regarding suspension of some NASA activities with Russian Government representatives, issued 7:44 pm EDT 
 
 "Given Russia's ongoing violation of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, NASA is suspending the majority of its ongoing engagements with the Russian Federation. NASA and Roscosmos will, however, continue to work together to maintain safe and continuous operation of the International Space Station. NASA is laser focused on a plan to return human spaceflight launches to American soil, and end our reliance on Russia to get into space. This has been a top priority of the Obama Administration's for the past five years, and had our plan been fully funded, we would have returned American human spaceflight launches - and the jobs they support - back to the United States next year. With the reduced level of funding approved by Congress, we're now looking at launching from U.S. soil in 2017. The choice here is between fully funding the plan to bring space launches back to America or continuing to send millions of dollars to the Russians. It's that simple. The Obama Administration chooses to invest in America - and we are hopeful that Congress will do the same." 
 
 // end // 
 
 More status reports and news releases or top stories. 
 
 Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook. 
 
 Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.
– NASA is cutting off much of its contact and cooperation with Russia—except when it comes to the International Space Station, which NASA relies on Russia to reach. "Given Russia's ongoing violation of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity," all contact with Russian representatives are suspended, "unless the activity has been specifically excepted," an administrator told employees in a memo leaked to SpaceRef. Those excepted activities include any bilateral contacts regarding space station operations, and multilateral meetings including other space station partner nations. NASA is in a tough position. It relies on Russia's Soyuz capsules, but the US has banned China from the ISS for human rights violations, the Christian Science Monitor explains. "If the United States wants to avoid looking extremely hypocritical, this was going to be coming," says one space policy expert. NASA soon issued a statement confirming the memo and saying that it was "laser focused on a plan to return human spaceflight launches to American soil." Russia isn't pleased, if this editorial from the state-run RIA Novosti is any indication. "The statement was way too harsh," the director of Russia's Space Policy Institute said.