Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered America to cut its diplomatic and technical staffs to 455 in response to American sanctions, but NASA and other space partnerships seem exempt - at least for now.
Putin hit back after Congress passed reprisals against Russia last week for interference in the 2016 election. President Trump has said he will sign the bill into law. "It's time to show we're not going to leave that without an answer," Putin said Sunday on Russian state television.
Asked Monday by AL.com if Putin's order would affect NASA's operations in Russia, the space agency referred questions to the U.S. State Department. The State Department declined comment saying Putin's order was still being assessed.
American news agencies took note of comments Saturday by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin. "They (the United States) have an interesting approach, they try not to harm areas in which they are interested. They say that 'space is outside politics.' We take the 'space is outside politics' slogan into account, but nothing lasts forever.'
"Nothing lasts forever" has been the ominous takeaway from Rogozin's comments. But there are reasons to think Russia and the U.S. don't want the feud to extend to space.
Russia and the U.S. have worked hard to build their partnership in space. The International Space Station has been staffed with cosmonauts and American astronauts since 2000. In April, Igor Komarov, general director of Russia's space agency, said at the U.S. Space Symposium that Russia would consider extending its partnership on the station beyond 2024. "We appreciate that ... political problems do not touch this sphere," Komarov said.
There's big money involved. America pays Russia to take its astronauts to the International Space Station, and Russia sells its RD-180 rocket engine to an American rocket company.
The RD-180 engine deal was estimated to be worth $1 billion to Russia when it was signed in 1997. Congress has banned the engine once during a rocky period, but lifted the ban when the American rocket company, United Launch Alliance (ULA), couldn't find a replacement fast enough.
ULA builds rockets in Decatur, Ala., that carry U.S. military and commercial satellites into orbit, and it has ordered 20 more RD-180s to bridge the gap until that replacement engine arrives.
Meanwhile, NASA has only 12 employees in Russia now, according to a tally in the Washington Post. They are supporting those rides for American astronauts to the space station. America has been paying Russia $81 million per seat for rides to the station while it awaits completion of U.S. crew carriers being built by Boeing and SpaceX.
Add the history of cooperation, the interest in going forward by top Russian space officials, and the money involved and the space program seems out of the threat zone for now. If Russia does sever the relationship, it will be a sign of a truly serious breech between the two countries.