Bill Nelson believes there was a threat to the ISS
WASHINGTON, November 16. /tass/. Tests of anti-satellite weapons, allegedly carried out by the Russian Federation, put the International Space Station (ISS) and the crew on it at risk. This opinion was expressed on Monday by the head of the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Bill Nelson in a statement published on the agency's website.
The head of NASA repeated the statements of the US authorities regarding the fact that the Russian Federation allegedly conducted tests of anti-satellite weapons, in which a satellite was hit and space debris appeared. "I, like [US Secretary of State Anthony] Blinken, am outraged by this irresponsible and destabilizing act," Nelson said.
According to him, "it is unthinkable that Russia has put at risk not only American astronauts and their international partners on the ISS, but also its own astronauts." The head of NASA called "these actions reckless and dangerous," and also said that, along with the ISS, the Chinese orbital station and the astronauts on it could have suffered as a result of the incident.
"NASA will continue to monitor the wreckage in the following days to ensure the safety of our crew in orbit," Nelson said. According to him, "all countries have obligations to prevent the deliberate creation of space debris from [the use of] anti-satellite weapons and to maintain safe and stable" conditions in space.
Earlier on Monday, the US Secretary of State made the statement that "on November 15, 2021, the Russian Federation recklessly conducted destructive tests of an anti-satellite missile with direct launch into orbit against one of its satellites." According to the US Secretary of State, as a result, there were more than 1.5 thousand fragments that "can be tracked". According to Blinken, "hundreds of thousands of smaller orbital fragments" are also likely to arise. According to Blinken, Washington intends, together with its allies, to respond to the actions attributed to Russia.
Concern about Russia's actions in space has previously been expressed by some American generals. In response to such allegations, the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov said that Moscow appreciates cooperation with Washington in space and hopes that it will not fall victim to Russophobia. He called the Americans' fears completely groundless, stressing that Moscow stands for peace and cooperation.
