I saw this in the news a few weeks ago and only got around to reading what was going on in the last couple of days. I gotta say, I’m pretty damned sad its come to this.
Russia has decided it will no longer participate in the ISS after 2024.
This ISS is an amazing triumph for humanity, not just the US and Russia. It was a symbol of hope for a lot of people, that no matter what drama was happening on the political stage, those who could actually do good for our world were still working together without interruption because of power plays at the top. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine changed all that.
I was alive for most of the construction of the ISS. Watched on TV in awe as the Shuttles launched piece after piece into the clear blue sky, had pictures the astronauts took of the Station as more was added taped to my bedroom walls. My son inherited my love of space and the Station from me. I still, to this day, want to be Gene Krantz when I grow up.
Hell, I have a romance trilogy set on the Station.
Maybe we’ll get lucky and Russia will end their war, and they’ll decide to stay on as partners for the ISS. Russian cosmonauts have added so much to our space science, been their with our astronauts as the wonders of the Universe unfolded over the years. I don’t know the future though.
Too bad people can’t make peace the priority, so we can keeping watching the Universe be more amazing by the second.
T.A. Creech
Science in the pursuit of Fiction.