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Earth may be experiencing another Cold War, but Russia and the United States are friendlier than ever in space. After a postponed shipment, US astronauts on the International Space Station donated food to their Russian counterparts.
The Progress MS-16 spacecraft, due for launch on December 11, reportedly brought rations to Russian cosmonauts stationed on the ISS. Its postponement to February 15 prompted Americans to share some of their own food.
“When we asked the Americans to deliver our rations to their spaceship, they told us that they already had a fairly large supply of food and that our cosmonauts should use their products.” said Alexander Agureev, head of nutrition at the Institute of Biomedical Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences, noting that the United States provided the food for free.
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According to Sergey Ryzhikov, the commander of the current ISS mission, the Americans gave the Russians about 13 containers full of food rations. The ISS is currently inhabited by seven astronauts – two from Russia, four from the United States, and one from Japan.
Last year, Russia’s Roscosmos space agency revealed it may launch its own orbital station after 2024, when it believes the ISS may need to be decommissioned. The current setup was supposed to work until 2030, but Moscow fears it will deteriorate faster than expected.
“Until 2025, Russia has the obligation to participate in the ISS program”, Vladimir Solovyov, deputy general manager of Energia Rocket and Space Corporation, told the Russian Academy of Sciences. “There are already a number of items that have been badly damaged and are out of service. Many of them are not replaceable. After 2025, we predict an avalanche failure of many elements on board the ISS.
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