NASA to end most activities with Russia | BREAKING NEWS - 4 APRIL 2014

NASA to end most activities with Russia | BREAKING NEWS – 4 APRIL 2014

For more Latest and Breaking News Headlines
SUBSCRIBE to https://www.youtube.com/user/ZakWorldNEWS

NASA is suspending much of its work with Russia in light of its actions in Ukraine but said it will continue to collaborate with Russia’s space agency on International Space Station operations.
The decision by the U.S. space agency to halt “the majority of its ongoing engagements” with Russia’s Roscosmos comes amid heightened tensions sparked by Russia’s annexation last month of Ukraine’s southern Crimea region.
A statement sent out by NASA on Wednesday said the U.S. space agency was acting “given Russia’s ongoing violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
But, the statement said, it will continue to work with Roscosmos to “maintain safe and continuous operation of the International Space Station.”
In 2011, NASA retired its space shuttle fleet, its only means of getting to and from the station. Now, Russian Soyuz capsules ferry U.S. astronauts and cosmonauts, together with supplies that can fit in the smaller craft.
In its statement, NASA appealed for more funding from Congress to help it resume manned American space flights.
“NASA is laser focused on a plan to return human spaceflight launches to American soil, and end our reliance on Russia to get into space,” it said.
“This has been a top priority of the Obama Administration’s for the past five years, and had our plan been fully funded, we would have returned American human spaceflight launches — and the jobs they support — back to the United States next year.
“With the reduced level of funding approved by Congress, we’re now looking at launching from U.S. soil in 2017. The choice here is between fully funding the plan to bring space launches back to America or continuing to send millions of dollars to the Russians. It’s that simple.”
The U.S. space agency’s decision to suspend many activities comes in the same week that 28-member defense bloc NATO said it was ending cooperation with Russia over its activities in Ukraine.
Western leaders have condemned Russia’s annexation of Crimea as a violation of international law and called on Moscow to pull back the tens of thousands of troops it has massed near Ukraine’s eastern border.
Russia says its forces are there to take part in military exercises and will return to base when those are finished.

TAGS
abc breaking news, bbc, bbc football, bbc iplayer, bbc news, bbc news america, bbc persian, bbc sport, bbc weather, bbc world news, breaking celebrity news, breaking election news, breaking late news, breaking local news, breaking music news, breaking news, breaking news alerts, breaking news canada, breaking news headlines, breaking news in atlanta, breaking news in nigeria, breaking news india, breaking news pensacola florida, breaking news plane crash, breaking news story, breaking sports news, business expensive news home media world, christian world news, cnn, cnn breaking news, cnn money, cnn news, cnn news breaking news, cnn news world, detroit breaking news, global news, headline, headline news, health care technology news, hot latest global news, internet technology news, las vegas breaking news, latest breaking news, latest celebrity news, latest information technology news, latest music news, latest news, latest news headlines, latest news update, latest sports news, live breaking news, local breaking news, local news today, msn breaking news, nbc breaking news, nbc world news, news of the world, news report us world, news today news, news updated daily, solar technology news, sports news today, technology news, the latest news, today news, us news and world, us news and world report, us news and world report magazine, us news and world report web site, us news world report, world news, world news daily, world news headlines

NASA to end most activities with Russia | BREAKING NEWS - 4 APRIL 2014