International Space Station: Russia threatens to end cooperation

Al Jazeera English on Youtube shows that Russia says it will end cooperation with the International Space Station. Head of Russia's space agency says organization will no longer work with NASA or European partners.

The purpose of this space station is important. The ISS was originally intended to be a laboratory, observatory, and factory while providing transportation, maintenance, and a low Earth orbit staging base for possible future missions to the Moon, Mars, and asteroids. However, not all of the uses envisioned in the initial memorandum of understanding between NASA and Roscosmos have been realized. In the 2010 United States National Space Policy, the ISS was given additional roles of serving commercial, diplomatic, and educational purposes.

Scientific research on the International Space Station is important, indeed. The ISS really provides a platform to conduct scientific research, with power, data, cooling, and crew available to support experiments. Small uncrewed spacecraft can also provide platforms for experiments, especially those involving zero gravity and exposure to space, but space stations offer a long-term environment where important studies can be performed potentially for decades, combined with ready access by human researchers.