All eyes are on the mayoral vote in Sao Paulo where three candidates are running neck and neck, setting the stage for a second-round runoff on October 27
Western sanctions against Russia could cause the International Space Station to crash, the head of Russian space agency Roscosmos warned Saturday, calling for the punitive measures to be lifted.
According to Dmitry Rogozin, the sanctions, some of which predate Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, could disrupt the operation of Russian spacecraft servicing the ISS.
As a result, the Russian segment of the station — which helps correct its orbit — could be affected, causing the 500-tonne structure to “fall down into the sea or onto land”, the Roscosmos chief wrote on Telegram.
“The Russian segment ensures that the station’s orbit is corrected (on average 11 times a year), including to avoid space debris”, said Rogozin, who regularly expresses his support for the Russian army in Ukraine on social networks.
Publishing a map of the locations where the ISS could possibly come down, he pointed out that it was unlikely to be in Russia.
“But the populations of other countries, especially those led by the ‘dogs of war’, should think about the price of the sanctions against Roscosmos”, he continued, describing the countries who imposed sanctions as “crazy”.
Rogozin similarly raised the threat of the space station falling to earth last month while blasting Western sanctions on Twitter.
On March 1, Nasa said it was trying to find a solution to keep the ISS in orbit without Russia’s help.
Crews and supplies are transported to the Russian segment by Soyuz spacecraft.
But Rogozin said the launcher used for take-off had been “under US sanctions since 2021 and under EU and Canadian sanctions since 2022”.
Roscosmos said it had appealed to Nasa, the Canadian Space Agency and the European Space Agency, “demanding the lifting of illegal sanctions against our companies”.
Space is one of the last remaining areas where the United States and Russia continue to cooperate.
ALSO READ:
At the beginning of March, Roscosmos announced its intention to prioritise the construction of military satellites as Russia finds itself increasingly isolated as a result of the war in Ukraine.
Rogozin also announced that Moscow would no longer supply the engines for the US Atlas and Antares rockets.
“Let them soar into space on their broomsticks,” he wrote.
On March 30, US astronaut, Mark Vande Hei, and two cosmonauts, Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov, are scheduled to return to Earth from the ISS onboard a Soyuz spacecraft.
All eyes are on the mayoral vote in Sao Paulo where three candidates are running neck and neck, setting the stage for a second-round runoff on October 27
Family credit in Arab countries accounted for 38% of total private sector credit at the end of 2023
Ian McConville was summoned for his country's repeated bias, including on Iran's response to what it called 'the Zionist regime,' meaning Israel
Project is already 60% complete
Polls have the Republican and Democrat candidates neck and neck, fuelling a high-cost scramble for each and every wavering voter in the seven key states
Trump, who lost to Biden in 2020 and falsely claimed the elections were unfair, faces Harris in the November 5 elections
This comes after the President earlier ordered an urgent relief aid package worth $100 million
Subhan Ahmad, Chief Operating Officer, Emirates Cricket Board, was delighted with the crowd attendance for the game between India and Pakistan on Sunday