Cosmonaut Nikolai Chub is to take a course in the US on emergency situations on the American segment of the ISS. The refusal of the United States to issue him a visa jeopardizes the safety of the ISS in case of emergency situations, Roscosmos notes.
Chub is to participate in the first five-week familiarization session with the American segment of the ISS. Without lectures and classes on the layout of the American segment of the ISS, as well as without getting acquainted with the operation of the systems, understanding the interaction between the systems of the American and Russian segments, as well as taking a course on actions in an emergency, flying in space is not possible, emphasizes Roskosmos.
Denial of a visa calls into question the safety of the astronaut’s stay on the ISS and the security American segment of the ISS due to the unpreparedness of the Russian cosmonaut in case of an emergency.
The US refused to issue an entry visa to Chubu. The astronaut is expected at the US Johnson Space Center for training. The head of Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin, said that he would request the opinion of the head of NASA in connection with the situation. Rogozin called the visa denial a dangerous precedent for cooperation on the ISS.
It never occurred to Russia to deny a visa to a US astronaut who was on his way to Star City to prepare for a space flight, Rogozin said. Chub is due to make its first space flight in the spring of 2023.