{"id":11736,"date":"2021-04-21T01:50:35","date_gmt":"2021-04-20T17:50:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/nasa-chief-russian-cosmonauts-unlikely-fly-on-u-s-crew-capsules-until-next-year\/"},"modified":"2021-04-21T01:50:35","modified_gmt":"2021-04-20T17:50:35","slug":"nasa-chief-russian-cosmonauts-unlikely-fly-on-u-s-crew-capsules-until-next-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/nasa-chief-russian-cosmonauts-unlikely-fly-on-u-s-crew-capsules-until-next-year\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA chief: Russian cosmonauts unlikely fly on U.S. crew capsules until next year"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy has his Sokol launch and entry suit pressure checked before boarding a Soyuz spacecraft for liftoff April 9 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Credit: NASA\/GCTC\/Irina Spector<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

NASA\u2019s acting administrator said Tuesday he does not expect Russian cosmonauts to start launching to the International Space Station on U.S. commercial crew vehicles until next year.<\/p>\n

A proposed agreement with Russia to ensure the space station is always staffed with an international crew is awaiting U.S. government approval. The no-funds-exchanged agreement has been in discussion by NASA and Russian space agency officials for years, but sign-off of a final deal has hit roadblocks in recent months.<\/p>\n

Steve Jurczyk, NASA\u2019s acting administrator, said Tuesday that the draft version of an \u201cimplementing agreement\u201d between NASA and Roscosmos is still being reviewed by the U.S. State Department.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re waiting for the final signatures from the State Department on the implementing agreement, and then we\u2019ll provide that draft to Roscosmos and begin negotiations,\u201d Jurczyk told Spaceflight Now in an interview.<\/p>\n

He said he believes NASA is close to getting final State Department approval of the agreement\u2019s text, but the clock has likely run out for getting the State Department signatures and finalizing the agreement with the Russian government in time to assign a Russian cosmonaut to a SpaceX crew mission later this year.<\/p>\n

Once the agreement is in place, a Russian cosmonaut would have to be approved to travel to the United States, have a custom SpaceX-developed pressure suit manufactured, and receive basic training on the Crew Dragon spacecraft.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe it\u2019s now too late to develop a suit and do the training for Crew-3,\u201d Jurczyk said, referring to a SpaceX Crew Dragon mission scheduled for launch Oct. 23. \u201cSo most likely the earliest mission to have a cosmonaut on it would be Crew-4.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Crew-4 mission is currently scheduled for launch no earlier than the first quarter of 2022.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi poses with a SpaceX pressure suit inside the International Space Station. Noguchi was the first international astronaut to fly on a U.S. commercial crew ship. Credit: NASA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Last November, NASA said it had submitted the draft agreement to the State Department for approval. At that time, NASA hoped to have the deal finalized in time to assign a Russian cosmonaut to the Crew-3 mission late this year.<\/p>\n

Rookie NASA astronaut Raja Chari \u2014 a former U.S. Air Force fighter pilot \u2014 veteran physician-astronaut Tom Marshburn, and European Space Agency astronaut Matthias Maurer have been assigned to the Crew-3 mission. NASA left open the Dragon\u2019s fourth seat for a Russian cosmonaut, but that position is now expected to be filled by a crew member from NASA\u2019s astronaut corps or another international partner.<\/p>\n

Once NASA and Roscosmos sign the final agreement, managers want every U.S. crew launch to the space station to have a Russian cosmonaut on-board. And every launch of a Russian Soyuz crew capsule would have an astronaut from the United States or another partner qualified to operate NASA\u2019s segment of the space station.<\/p>\n

The agreement will help ensure there is always a crew member on the space station to operate the outpost\u2019s Russian section and U.S. Operating Segment, or USOS, which includes U.S., Japanese, European, and Canadian hardware. If Russia\u2019s Soyuz program or the U.S. crew vehicles are grounded, crew members from the other international partners will still be able to fly to the space station.<\/p>\n

It would also guard against a medical emergency that could force half of the space station\u2019s crew to leave the outpost early and return to Earth. If one spacecraft had to depart the station early, all of that capsule\u2019s crew would have to come back to Earth to ensure they\u2019re not stranded in orbit without a lifeboat.<\/p>\n

That could force all Russian or all U.S. crew members to evacuate the space station, leaving critical parts of the spacecraft\u2019s propulsion, life support, and control systems at risk.<\/p>\n