By Daria Litvinova
Russian officials on Tuesday rejected accusations that they endangered astronauts aboard the International Space Station by conducting a weapons test that created more than 1,500 pieces of space junk.
U.S. officials on Monday accused Russia of destroying an old satellite with a missile in what they called a reckless and irresponsible strike. The debris could do major damage to the space station as it is orbiting at 17,500 mph (28,000 kph).
Astronauts now face four times greater risk than normal, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson told The Associated Press.
The test clearly demonstrates that Russia, “despite its claims of opposing the weaponization of outer space, is willing to ... imperil the exploration and use of outer space by all nations through its reckless and irresponsible behavior,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.
The Russian space agency Roscosmos wouldn't confirm or deny that the strike took place, saying only that “unconditional safety of the crew has been and remains our main priority” in a vague online statement released Tuesday.
Russia's Defense Ministry on Tuesday confirmed carrying out a test and destroying a defunct satellite that has been in orbit since 1982, but insisted that “the U.S. knows for certain that the resulting fragments, in terms of test time and orbital parameters, did not and will not pose a threat to orbital stations, spacecraft and space activities” and called remarks by U.S. officials “hypocritical.” Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that the strike was carried out “with surgical precision” and posed no threat to the space station.
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also charged that it is “hypocrisy" to say that Russia creates risks for peaceful activities in space.
Once the situation became clear early Monday morning, the four Americans, one German and two Russians on board the International Space Station were ordered to immediately seek shelter in their docked capsules. They spent two hours in the two capsules, finally emerging only to have to close and reopen hatches to the station’s individuals labs on every orbit, or 1 1/2 hours, as they passed near or through the debris.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg agreed that Russia’s actions endangered the space station.
“This was a reckless act by Russia to actually shoot down and destroy a satellite as part of a test of an anti-satellite weapon system,” which created a lot of space debris, Stoltenberg told reporters in Brussels.
He said it was of additional concern “because it demonstrates that Russia is now developing new weapons systems that can shoot down the satellites, can destroy important space capabilities for basic infrastructure on Earth, like communications, like navigation, or like early warning of missile launches.”
NASA Mission Control said the heightened threat could continue to interrupt the astronauts’ science research and other work. Four of the seven crew members only arrived at the orbiting outpost Thursday night.
A similar weapons test by China in 2007 also resulted in countless pieces of debris. One of those threatened to come dangerously close to the space station last week. While it later was dismissed as a risk, NASA had the station move anyway.
Anti-satellite missile tests by the U.S. in 2008 and India in 2019 were conducted at much lower altitudes, well below the space station at about 260 miles (420 kilometers.)
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Marcia Dunn in Cape Canaveral, Florida, and Lorne Cook in Brussels contributed to this report.
Young Americans face a double burden from crushing student debt and the ballooned federal deficit that is the result of President Trump's tax cut, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told Cheddar's J.D. Durkin in an interview that aired Wednesday. Pelosi called the economic position many millennials find themselves in, even as the economy remains strong, "unconscionable." "Republicans foisted onto future generations [an] economy that is unfair, that is not really lending itself to growth in a strong, predictable, confident, certain way," Pelosi said.
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Democratic Rep. Earl Blumenauer of Oregon is pushing forward for marijuana reform, introducing the aptly named House Resolution 420 to regulate marijuana much like alcohol was regulated post-Prohibition. "Ultimately we're going to be moving in that direction, allowing the states to be able to set up a regulatory system that meets their needs ー have their own approach in terms of taxation and distribution, just like alcohol," Blumenauer told Cheddar Tuesday. "
The cannabis business is budding across the United States, and one company is hoping to take hemp mainstream. Socati just announced a new $33 million round of funding. The company's CEO Josh Epstein talked to Cheddar about how that investment will help Socati expand is business.
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Between changes in the tax code and the government shutdown, H&R Block knows this year's tax season is likely to be stressful for many. That's why the company's introducing a slate of tools, some artificial intelligence-enabled, to help make it easier and more transparent to file. "This year we are introducing upfront, transparent pricing, so every single consumer will know what's it going to cost before I start," H&R Block CEO Jeff Jones told Cheddar.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2019.
The battle of the billionaires may be heating up ahead of the 2020 presidential race, as former mayor and media mogul Michael Bloomberg took a swipe at ex-Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz after he announced a potential run for president as an independent during an interview on "60 Minutes" Sunday. The two billionaires are looking in part to capitalize on their corporate success to gain an edge against President Trump, who leveraged his business career to gain the presidency. "Anything is really possible at this point, and you don't want to ignore a white billionaire announcing a candidacy for president," Julia Manchester, reporter at The Hill, told Cheddar Monday. "We saw it happen in 2015 and \[Trump]\ won."
The U.S. Treasury on Monday announced sanctions against Venezuela's state-owned oil firm in an effort to undermine incumbent president Nicolás Maduro and reinforce support for interim president Juan Guaidó. Brett Bruen, a former diplomat and director of global engagement under President Obama, called the administration's decision a "rare bright spot" in Trump's foreign policy. "The Trump administration is holding firm to defend democracy, they are standing up for human rights, they are standing up for the rule of law," Bruen told Cheddar Monday.
Trump's political calculus to appeal to his base ー an older, whiter, more conservative demographic ー is coming at the expense of his popularity among millennials, said Kristen Soltis Anderson, a Republican pollster and author of "The Selfie Vote: Where Millennials Are Leading America." That poses a problem for the GOP as it seeks to broaden its tent in anticipation of a future when Donald Trump is not on the ballot.
