Without Russian cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS), it may be difficult to adjust its orbit. This point of view was expressed by pilot-cosmonaut Andrey Borisenko.
He noted that the ISS was originally designed so that the functionality of the station was distributed between the segments in approximately the same way.
“The functionality of the station without Russian scientists, as far as I can imagine, will be quite truncated. At least in terms of technical capabilities,” Borisenko said in an interview with Lenta.ru.
The expert added that some tasks can only be performed by the American or only the Russian segment. For example, the rise of the station’s orbit was carried out by Russian Progress cargo ships, while the Americans, as a rule, carried out a change in the elements of the orbit.
“To what extent it is possible to do this in other ways is a question for specialists,” — Borisenko said.
Earlier, the new head of Roscosmos, Yuri Borisov, said that Russia would withdraw from the ISS project after 2024.