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Space

Georgian conflict threatens space station

20 August 2008

The consequences of the conflict in Georgia may reverberate all the way to the International Space Station.

With the space shuttle fleet heading for retirement in 2010, and a replacement not ready until 2015, NASA is depending on Russian Soyuz spacecraft to ferry astronauts to and from the ISS. But tensions between the US and Russia over Georgia look set to scupper a deal between the two countries.

US legislation outlaws payments to Russia for services related to the space station because Russia exports nuclear and missile technology to Iran.

Although NASA has an exemption allowing it buy Soyuz flights,…

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