ISS News and Discussion

[ecarfan]

CNN reports on the latest tweet from Rogozin

"If you block cooperation with us, who will save the International Space Station (ISS) from an uncontrolled deorbit and fall into the United States or...Europe?" Rogozin said. "There is also the possibility of a 500-ton structure falling on India and China. Do you want to threaten them with such a prospect? The ISS does not fly over Russia, therefore all the risks are yours. Are you ready for them?"

Apparently Rogozin is not aware of the capabilities of the Cygnus vehicle. @Doug_G thanks for your post, I am glad to learn that! Perhaps you should reply to Rogozin on twitter. I just did a web search to confirm your information and found it at https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2018/07/cygnus-reboost-conducted-iss/

But this retired NASA astronaut also does not seem to be aware of that, quote from the CNN report: "The Russian segment can't function without the electricity on the American side, and the American side can't function without the propulsion systems that are on the Russian side," former NASA astronaut Garrett Reisman told CNN. "So you can't do an amicable divorce. You can't do a conscious uncoupling."

Of course it was only a few years ago that Rogozin did not believe that SpaceX would be able to transport crew to the ISS. The man is a delusional idiot, just like his boss. Russian sources report he has run Roscosmos into the ground. Putin has slashed its budget. My guess is that Rogozin has been stealing money from its budget to enrich himself, standard practice for Russian oligarchs and high ranking government employees.

 

[Electroman]

If you look at his tweet thread, he is just rambling. What is this thing about ISS does not fly over Russia? How is that possible?

 

[ecarfan]

If you look at his tweet thread, he is just rambling

Of course he is. Just like his boss. He’s so delusional he doesn’t even know that obviously the ISS orbit track takes it over Russia. See. https://spacemath.gsfc.nasa.gov/earth/10Page111.pdf

Quote: “As the ISS orbits Earth every 90 minutes, Earth rotates ‘underneath’ the orbit of the ISS once every 24 hours. This means that each ISS orbit advances in longitude by a fixed amount in longitude. The figure above shows the ground track of the ISS for two orbits.”

Note that the image on that page showing two example ISS orbits illustrates it passes over Russia.

He’s in charge of Roscosmos and he does not know the most basic things about how orbits work. I’m not going to bother to check out the replies he gets on Twitter but I’ll bet he is getting roasted.

 

[Grendal]

One way or another, the US and our allies could preserve the ISS as long as there isn't sabotage. SpaceX could, I'm sure, come up with something quick if needed to boost the station and they can certainly launch something there at a moments notice. I wonder what the "emergency" time frame is for a SpaceX launch?

The smart move for NASA and the military is to reserve a booster and second stage for a 24 hour emergency "launch on notice." Maybe one each.

 

[Grendal]

Go Elon!!

 

[ecarfan]

Elon was uncharacteristically restrained in his response to Rogozin.

So what modifications would need to be made to Dragon for it be able to raise the ISS orbit?

 

[bxr140]

What is this thing about ISS does not fly over Russia? How is that possible?

Its not…but it barely flies over Russia…sometimes. [I assume] In context of Rogozin’s ramblings, not to a statistically relevant degree from a falling-out-of-the-sky perspective.

Geographically, only a small percentage of Russia Is below the ISS inclination of 52 degrees, and It’s worth noting that all Russian ISS launches have gone out of Baikonur (~at 52deg) which is basically in the middle of Kazakhstan. (ISS inclination is solely a function of Baikonur’s latitude)

I don’t actually know what the specific post USSR agreement is between the two for that land (I’m pretty sure it’s basically Russia saying “**** you we’re keeping that launch site and what are you going to do about it?”) but when you fly into Baikonur, even though the commercial airfield is outside the Russian checkpoint to get into the ‘city’, you don’t actually need a Kazakh visa—just a Russian one. (You’re also hyper controlled by handlers…)

 

[ecarfan]

what modifications would need to be made to Dragon for it be able to raise the ISS orbit?

I am genuinely interested in an answer to that question. Any thoughts?

I can’t find information online as to the specifics of the Cygnus design that give it ISS orbit raising capability. I know that Dragon has cold gas maneuvering thrusters and assume that those are not powerful enough. Could Dragon be redesigned in a timely manner to serve that purpose?

 

[Grendal]

Eric Berger lays it out:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1496904525403373579

 

[Grendal]

I am genuinely interested in an answer to that question. Any thoughts?

I can’t find information online as to the specifics of the Cygnus design that give it ISS orbit raising capability. I know that Dragon has cold gas maneuvering thrusters and assume that those are not powerful enough. Could Dragon be redesigned in a timely manner to serve that purpose?

Cygnus does have the capability but Antares uses Russian engines to boost Cygnus into space. SpaceX could put some kind of engine (with fuel) into the cargo area and bring it up on a cargo or crew mission. I could be wrong, but it doesn't have to be something big.

 

[ecarfan]

This CBS news story about the February 19 Cygnus mission to the ISS states:

In a first for the Cygnus program, the spacecraft has been modified to enable its main engine to raise the station's altitude, a service normally provided by engines in Russian modules and Progress supply ships.

"We've optimized the Cygnus configuration to remove some secondary structural elements to maximize the cargo load and also allow for full fuel load that enables a new operational capability, a reboost," said Steve Krein, Northrop Grumman vice president of civil and commercial space.

Krein said the Northrop Grumman spacecraft is now equipped with a "gimbaled delta velocity engine, or DVE, that will allow Cygnus to provide reboost, or orbit-raising capability, for station during berthed operations." The first such maneuver is expected in April.

Unlike SpaceX's all-American Dragon cargo ship and Falcon 9 rocket, the Cygnus and its Antares 230+ booster include major components built in other countries. The RD-181 engines are built by NPO Energomash in Russia and other major elements of the first stage are provided by KB Yuzhnoye/Yuzhmash in Ukraine.

If Northrop Grumman can modify their vehicle to provide orbit-raising capability I assume that SpaceX could do the same to Cargo Dragon.

Unconfirmed reports that first stage production facilities in Ukraine have been severely damaged must be freaking out Northrop Grumman.

 

[MontyFloyd]

I am optimistic the US ability to keep the ISS in orbit are very good.

It is a long way down before risk of deorbit, but don't have the numbers at moment.

How often does the space station need to accelerate to maintain altitude?

Answer (1 of 19): Reboosts average to be about once per month. There isn’t a fixed schedule because the decay rate is not constant and there are competing interests that affect the schedule. The primary source of altitude decay is the momentum loss that occurs as the ISS slams into atmospheric m...

www.quora.com

 

[Grendal]

Space station operations remain normal despite geopolitical tensions

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has not affected operations of the International Space Station or plans for a NASA astronaut to return home on a Soyuz.

spacenews.com

 

[Grendal]

The NASA astronaut return happened quite normally.

 

[ecarfan]

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-says-cooperation-space-only-possible-once-sanctions-are-lifted-2022-04-02/

“That’s why I believe that the restoration of normal relations between the partners at the International Space Station (ISS) and other projects is possible only with full and unconditional removal of illegal sanctions,” Rogozin said.

Rogozin added that Roscosmos’ prosposals on when to end cooperation over the ISS with space agencies of the United States, Canada, the European Union and Japan will soon be reported to Russian authorities. He has previously said that the sanctions could “destroy” the U.S.-Russian partnership on the ISS.

As usual with Rogozin, difficult to know how seriously to take his statements.

 

[ecarfan]

Washington Post article quotes recently returned NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei:

As for the Russian crew members who recently joined the space station wearing yellow-and-blue suits, the colors of the Ukrainian flag, he said the outfits were not meant as political commentary. Instead, all three members went to the same university, and yellow and blue are the school colors.

He said the cosmonauts “had no idea that people would perceive that as having to do with Ukraine. … I think they were kind of blindsided by it.”

So if that is the case, then why didn’t the cosmonauts just state that publicly instead of saying something to the effect of “we had a lot of yellow fabric we needed to use up.”

It’s not credible.

 

[Grendal]

Washington Post article quotes recently returned NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei:

So if that is the case, then why didn’t the cosmonauts just state that publicly instead of saying something to the effect of “we had a lot of yellow fabric we needed to use up.”

It’s not credible.

View attachment 790486

Let's put it this way. They'd have to say something like that to avoid getting thrown in the Gulag. Though it's possible it's true.

 

[AudubonB]

Tomorrow’s news may bring fresh insight but, as of late 30 April, Bloomberg and a number of UK-based news feeds are saying that Russia’s role in the ISS will terminate shortly. This appears to be the logical conclusion - if sooner than expected - of Moscow’s statements at the beginning of the month.

 

[Electroman]

I think the role of ISS itself has diminished. It can be turned into a commercial hotel for space fairing rich people with some occasional scientific experiments thrown in. Can also be used to test docking with SpaceX Starship

 

[ecarfan]

Tomorrow’s news may bring fresh insight but, as of late 30 April, Bloomberg and a number of UK-based news feeds are saying that Russia’s role in the ISS will terminate shortly.

That is clearly incorrect. See Eric Berger’s take at The Western space community should put Dmitry Rogozin on “ignore”

The reality is that, after more than two months of ugly fighting in Ukraine, the NASA-Roscosmos relationship has largely flown above geopolitical tensions. There is no indication that will change in the near term, and in his interview Rogozin is merely restating that the country could choose not to extend its partnership beyond 2024. However, as he often does, Rogozin makes this statement with a bit of bluster, seeking to project power.The reality is that, after more than two months of ugly fighting in Ukraine, the NASA-Roscosmos relationship has largely flown above geopolitical tensions. There is no indication that will change in the near term, and in his interview Rogozin is merely restating that the country could choose not to extend its partnership beyond 2024. However, as he often does, Rogozin makes this statement with a bit of bluster, seeking to project power.​