SpaceX will rescue ISS if Russia tries to drop it from orbit | Hacker News Reader

SpaceX will rescue ISS if Russia tries to drop it from orbit

the-sun.com

12 pointsjoering25 comments

Self-copy-pasting from a previous translation of the tweets that started this conversation (ref: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30461440 ):

For anyone looking for translations[1] of the original tweets[2] by the (blue-tick, verified) director:

"The garbage that your talented businessmen have put into low-Earth orbit is produced exclusively by the engines of the Russian Progress MS cargo ships. If you block cooperation with us, who will save the ISS from an uncontrolled descent from orbit and falling to the territory of the United States or..."

(next tweet)

"Europe? There is also the option of dropping a 500-ton structure on India and China. Do you want to threaten them with this prospect? The ISS does not fly over Russia, so all risks are yours. Are you ready for them? Gentlemen, when you plan sanctions, check those who generate them for illness"

NB: I attempted to translate the source by-URL using Google Translate[3], but as of 2022-02-24 22:47 UTC that didn't work.

NB: Attempting to use archive.org to retain a copy of the Yandex translation also appeared not to work (a response was saved[4] but it is a message to say that the request was blocked)

[1] - https://translate.yandex.com/translate?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwi...

[2] - https://twitter.com/Rogozin/status/1496934215333695488

[3] - https://twitter-com.translate.goog/Rogozin/status/1496934215...

[4] - https://web.archive.org/web/20220224224402/https://translate...

I don't get the threat about the supply of engines. My understanding is that the Falcon 9's Merlin engine is built by SpaceX in the US.

Pretty sure Merlin is built in California and Raptors may be built in Texas.

SpaceX wanted to buy Russian rockets/engines years ago and Russia told them to to screw off (paraphrased). Glad they did, this lead to SpaceX developing their own and bringing back US independence in the space market.

Along similar lines (although related to satellites and not rocket engines), the first Ukrainian-built satellite in a decade was launched[1] from Cape Canaveral back in 2019.

Quoting from the article:

"Sich 2-30 is an Earth observation satellite built in 2019 by the Yuzhmash, the Dnipro-based factory, one of the world’s leading spacecraft components production centers plunged into a decades-long, severe crisis following the fall of the Soviet Union."

[1] - https://kyivindependent.com/national/first-ukrainian-satelli...

See also: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30461441 (it may be misleading to state that the ISS does not transit over Russia)

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