Keith’s note: I just spoke with Al Mashhad TV about recent discussions at the United Nations between the U.S. and Russia about space weapons. [Audio]

Keith’s note: Russia has lost the Luna-25 spacecraft which crashed on the Moon after a propulsion event went wrong. Roscosmos has confirmed the loss via Telegram (translation) “On August 19, in accordance with the flight program of the Luna-25 spacecraft, an impulse was provided for the formation of its pre-landing elliptical orbit. At about 14:57 Moscow time, communication with the Luna-25 spacecraft was interrupted. The measures taken on August 19 and 20 to search for the device and get into contact with it did not produce any results. According to the results of a preliminary analysis, due to the deviation of the actual parameters of the impulse from the calculated ones, the device switched to an off-design orbit and ceased to exist as a result of a collision with the lunar surface. A specially formed interdepartmental commission will deal with the issues of clarifying the reasons for the loss of the Moon.” More. Update: I just did an interview on Deutsche Welle TV about this [Audio] [Video from DW]

Keith’s note: I just spoke with Deutsche Welle TV about Russia’s Luna 25 lunar probe and the impact that Russia’s invasion has had on space science programs and international cooperation. [Audio]

Keith’s note: Whenever I am asked about the Russian issue on the ISS on TV I usually reply that while things are bad back on Earth, somehow we always managed to cooperate in space with the same people we cannot get along with on Earth – and that maybe how we live in space can provide us a lesson with how we should live on our home planet’s surface. Indeed I think the idea of ISS as a Nobel Peace Prize winner is a good one. In the past several years that in-space cooperation has been tested with regard to Russia. We’ve seen that relationship challenged by Nauka’s malfunction, leaky Soyuz and Progress spacecraft, accusations of American astronaut tampering, and repugnant rants from the (former) head of Russia’s space program (who is now an active participant in the invasion of Ukraine). Yet the ISS continues to operate surprisingly smoothly. Now the U.S. has openly declared that “The United States has formally determined that Russia has committed crimes against humanity.” Is Bill Nelson going to address this? Probably not. Oddly Bill Nelson has been quite vocal for months about China (not a NASA partner in space). Yet when it comes to a formal U.S. accusation of crimes against humanity in Ukraine by Russia (an actual NASA partner in space) Nelson is surprisingly quiet. Why is that?

Keith’s note: Yesterday NASA and Roscosmos announced their plan to send up an un-crewed Soyuz MS-23 on 20 February to the ISS to replace the damaged Soyuz MS-22 currently in orbit. Two cosmonauts and one astronaut will then return home on Soyuz MS-23 while Soyuz MS-22 will eventually be sent back for a destructive re-entry. I was on France 24 [audio] at 3:15 pm EST and on Al Jazeera [audio] at 4:45 pm EST to talk about this today.

Заради аварията на Союз МС-22: съкращават екипажите на следващите американски и руски пилотирани кораби – Keith’s note: An English auto-translation of this article says Soyuz MS-23 will be launched with one crew and then bring cosmonauts Prokopiev and Petelin (currently on ISS) home. The next SpaceX Dragon will be launched with 3 crew – cosmonaut would Fedyaev bumped to a later mission – to bring Rubio home. MS-22 would eventually be deorbited with no crew.

Keith’s note: At the post-launch press event today Roscosmos representative Sergei Krikalev was asked if his upbeat and professional tone was an attempt to dial back the behavior of the former head of Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin. He gave a one word response: “Yes”, smiled, and there was laughter in the room.

Keith’s note: The State Department is urging Americans to not travel to Russia and if they are in Russia, to leave as soon as possible. As we all know, NASA has a number of personnel and astronauts in various locations for training and support of the International Space Station program. Alerts below:

Keith’s note: Ukraine invasion Sanctions imposed on Russian Duma officials include Vostok 6 Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space. More: Treasury Imposes Swift and Severe Costs on Russia for Putin’s Purported Annexation of Regions of Ukraine

Russia to NASA: Sticking with space station until at least 2028, Reuters “Russian space officials told their U.S. counterparts that Moscow expects to remain on the International Space Station at least until their own outpost in orbit is built in 2028, NASA’s space operations chief told Reuters. The assurance on Tuesday from Russia came after the newly appointed head of its space agency, Roscosmos, surprised NASA earlier in the day […]