What would NASA do????????????

Question

The USA/Europe has had a little arguement or fall out with Russia over Georgia this week. Things are a little uneasy to put it mildly. Considering Russia's input with the International Space Station and the fact that the Space Shuttle fleet will be discontinued in just two years time and America will count on Russia for NASA astronauts to visit it until the Orion craft is operational some 4 years later, as far as space activities are concerned, will we (USA) need to keep on good terms with the Russian agency for access to the ISS or if tentions grew between the two could NASA be totally buggered in this time frame?

Answer 1

The two country's scientific relationship is somewhat independent of their political relation. Moreover, the space station is something that is bigger than these two nations so it is not likely that Russia would make such a radical move as cutting off our access to the ISS. International pressure would most certainly prevent that, especially considering we built a majority of the station. (In fact, the Zarya module, which was built and launched by the Russians, was paid for by NASA who officially owns it!). And international courtesies aside, there are several legal documents governing the partner nation's relationships. At the top level is the Space Station Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) an international treaty signed by the 15 nations involved in the project, which also establishes NASA as manager of the space station.. The second layer are "Memoranda of Understanding" (MOUs), of which four exist between NASA and each of the four other partners, and describe the roles and responsibilities of partners. A third layer consists of contractual agreements, including the framework that sets forth the terms and conditions under which NASA purchases seats and cargo space on Soyuz and Progress transports. A fourth layer sets such things as ISS code of conduct.

So it's not likely that NASA would be left without any means of reaching the space station. But in the incredible off chance that it does, NASA will most certainly have other ways of getting to the station. ESA has already completed work on the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) which can be launched to autonomously dock with the station for resupply. As for astronaut transport, while far out, it is conceivable that the private space sector will have advanced enough or could be advanced through emergency partnerships with NASA to provide access to the space station by that time. Another option, though further along in the timeline, is the ESA and JAXA's CSTS or ACTS (Crew Space Transportation System and Advanced Crew Transportation System respectively) which would be completed around the time Orion will be for crew transport to the ISS.