US to continue using Russian spaceships – NASA official

There is no reason to cut ties since both nations benefit from the cooperation, the agency’s Sean Fuller said in a comment to TASS

The US space agency has no intention of cutting cooperation with Russia in manned expeditions to the International Space Station (ISS), Sean Fuller, a senior NASA official, has said. Being able to use each other’s spacecraft makes exploration safer for everyone, according to Fuller.

TASS caught up with the veteran space official, who previously headed NASA’s Human Space Flight Program office in Moscow, on the sidelines of this week’s 74th International Astronautical Congress in Baku, Azerbaijan. Fuller said he sees “no reason” for astronauts to stop using Russian Soyuz spaceships.

NASA and its Russian counterpart Roscosmos have an arrangement that allows them to use each other’s capsules. For almost a decade after retiring the Space Shuttle program, the US relied solely on Russian Soyuz flights to rotate ISS crews.

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After 2020, when piloted Crew Dragon craft were cleared for manned missions, the two parties returned to a ride-sharing scheme. It was last renewed in July 2022, despite relations between Moscow and Washington having soured over the Ukraine conflict.

Fuller stressed that US-Russian cooperation could become crucial if the ISS were to encounter an emergency requiring swift evacuation. Expedition members can use whichever spacecraft is docked to return home, he explained.

The SpaseX Endurance capsule is currently in orbit, having delivered four passengers, including Russia’s Konstantin Borisov, to the station in late August. It is the third mission for the reusable capsule.

The Soyuz MS-23 was the latest spacecraft to bring back to Earth ISS crew members, including astronaut Loral O’Hara. It landed in late September.

Fuller currently works as NASA’s International Partner Manager for the Gateway Program, the project to build a space station orbiting the Moon to facilitate further missions beyond the immediate neighborhood of the Earth.

Starship flight to Mars could happen soon – Elon Musk

The billionaire claimed that an uncrewed test landing could be conducted within the next four years

SpaceX’s Starship project could soon see an uncrewed flight to Mars, billionaire Elon Musk announced on Thursday. He was addressing the International Astronautical Federation (IAF) Congress in Baku, Azerbaijan via video videoconference.

“I think it’s sort of feasible within the next four years to do an uncrewed test landing there,” Musk told Clay Mowry, the president of the IAF.

He noted, however, that that goal was only “sort of feasible.” But once it is achieved, there will be more to come, Musk said, stating that the Starship system’s end purpose is to “land anywhere on a solid surface anywhere in the solar system.”

The SpaceX founder and CEO stated that the company’s Starship spacecraft – a large reusable rocket system – is preparing for its second test flight and awaiting a launch license from the US Federal Aviation Administration, which he said could be granted as soon as this month. 

The first Starship was destroyed during its maiden test flight in April when it failed to separate from its booster rocket and exploded just minutes after making it off the launchpad. SpaceX described the event as a “rapid unscheduled disassembly” but said the test had provided valuable insight.

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Meanwhile, Russia’s space agency Roscosmos announced last month that its S.A. Lavochkin Scientific and Production Association (NPO) was preparing to launch an interplanetary station to one of Mars’ satellites sometime after 2030.

The station, named ‘Boomerang,’ is scheduled to touch down on Phobos to gather soil samples for subsequent delivery to Earth, as outlined in a statement from the NPO. This mission constitutes the initial phase of the ‘Expedition-M’ project, which aims to explore Mars and its moons, Phobos and Deimos, by observing them remotely and landing craft on them. 

In 2016, Roscosmos noted that the Boomerang mission should have been carried out in partnership with the European Space Agency (ESA). However, in light of the Ukraine conflict, the ESA announced last year that it would sever all ties with its Russian counterpart.