DocM Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 Whoa....holy last minute faceslap, Batman.... http://www.spacenews.com/article/civil-space/42033visa-issues-keep-russian-chinese-engineers-away-from-iac-2014 Visa Issues Keep Russian, Chinese Engineers Away from IAC 2014 TORONTO ? Multiple Russian and Chinese space engineers failed to obtain visas to attend the 65th International Astronautical Congress (IAC) here this year, an absence that undermined space agency arguments that space cooperation should not be subject to short-term political issues. The absence of many in the planned Russian and Chinese delegations left gaps in sessions related to the future of the international space station, the development of new Chinese rockets and other topics. At a panel featuring the heads of the world?s major space agencies, the Mexican Space Agency stood in for the missing Chinese and Russian participants. Almost all of those making speeches ? the heads of the U.S., European, Indian, Canadian and Japanese space agencies, in addition to Mexico ? stressed the need for international collaboration at a time when no nation can go it alone. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said that, if one looked only at the way the international space station is being managed ? both in orbit and in terms of astronaut launches and retuns aboard Soyuz capsules ? one would have no idea of the tensions now stressing relations between Russia and the West. China has always been a special case in the United States, where NASA by law is prohibited from doing much with China?s quickly expanding space program. The U.S. government has specifically exempted the space station, where Russia is the biggest of NASA?s partners, from any embargoes or sanctions following Russia?s incursion into Ukraine. But the space exception apparently did not extend to the procurement of visas by many would-be Russian and Chinese delegates. Berndt Feuerbacher, a past president of the International Astronautical Federation and the moderator of the panel with the heads of space agencies, publicly apologized for the visa issues that have put so many holes in this year?s IAC program, and stretched the credibility of the idea that space is a protected domain. ?This was not our intention,? Feuerbacher said when questioned about how a panel discussing global space cooperation could do without China and Russia. ?It is very unfortunate that problems in the visa area meant those delegations could not be here today. I apologize.? Walter Natynczyk, president fo the Canadian Space Agency, said it is Canada?s foreign ministry that handles visa issues and that the Canadian Space Agency ? host. of this year?s IAC ? was not made aware of the visa issue until only a couple of days before the congress started Sept. 29. To date, Canada is the only Western government to have extended Russian sanctions to barring a satellite from being exported to Russia for launch aboard a Soyuz rocket. A Canadian maritime monitoring satellite, which was financed by the government but was to be used as part of Canada?s exactEarth commercial venture, was denied an export license at the last minute, apparently because of pressure from Canada?s large Ukrainian expatriate community. The United States, Europe and Asian nations have continued to send commercial and scientific satellites to Russia for launch. > Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torolol Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 I apologize. yeah, its a LOT easier to 'apologize' than doing the right thing in first place, Politics 101. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FloatingFatMan Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 ?This was not our intention,? Feuerbacher said when questioned about how a panel discussing global space cooperation could do without China and Russia. ?It is very unfortunate that problems in the visa area meant those delegations could not be here today. I apologize.? Unintentional my ass... This is 100% deliberate on the part of the US. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonlang Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 it's an open secret that all china does is spying and then copying and i better won't lose a single word about the evil empire Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spenser.d Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 Unintentional my ass... This is 100% deliberate on the part of the US. Unless I've missed something, its Canada that didn't issue visas... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FloatingFatMan Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 Unless I've missed something, its Canada that didn't issue visas... I'm looking a little beyond the surface events. +E.Worm Jimmy 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spenser.d Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 I'm looking a little beyond the surface events. Given Canada's apparent harder line on Russia when it comes to space already, I'm not sure why you'd think they would need to be persuaded by someone else in the first place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted September 30, 2014 Author Share Posted September 30, 2014 Recap, 1) Canada refused to allow a satellite to ship for launch by Russia because of the Ukraine situation. The US allowed such shipments. 2) Canada refused Russians and Chinese visas for a hosted conference. The US has not for its hosted conferences. 3) there were issues with Chinese corporate visitors getting access to their SpaceX commsat launch. This because it occurred on a USAF base (Cape Canaveral) and the US law limiting space related interactions with them. The problem was due to security checks, but they did get visas and they did attend. How is Canada not issuing visas the US 's fault? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ctebah Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 it's an open secret that all US does is spying Fixed it for you. Kind of embarrassed for my country right now. Space exploration should not have anything to do with politics. It is one area where the entire humanity should, whenever possible, be working together. WAQT and +E.Worm Jimmy 2 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted September 30, 2014 Author Share Posted September 30, 2014 ctebah, Fact of life: everyone spies on everyone. Even Canada, which is a member of many shared intelligence groups including Five Eyes. As such, they share what US intelligences sources gather and provide quite a lot themselves. This has been the case since WW-2 ended. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ctebah Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 ctebah, Fact of life: everyone spies on everyone. Even Canada, which is a member of many shared intelligence groups including Five Eyes. As such, they share what US intelligences sources gather and provide quite a lot themselves. This has been the case since WW-2 ended. Next time you want to state the obvious, please direct it towards Macstar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted September 30, 2014 Author Share Posted September 30, 2014 You're the one who edited his text to "it's an open secret that all US does is spying". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaP Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 Unintentional my ass... This is 100% deliberate on the part of the US. This is Canada. Should not be a surprise to anyone. John Baird is by far the worst foreign affairs minister Canada never had. This guy is a clown. Politic should never get in the way of science. It's sad cause economically they are doing a good job. But their international politic is killing them anyway for many people. They wont get my vote next election. I'm looking a little beyond the surface events. You are looking too much and it's probably cause you don't know John Baird. John Baird is capable of the most stupid move you could ever think about. +E.Worm Jimmy 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryoken Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 As a Canadian, I'm not happy about how this was handled. But I'm not gonna take it so far as to say it was wrong. The foreign ministry hasn't made statements to backup why the VISA's were denied. If they would have been denied under normal conditions, then I agree with denying them now. If this was a deliberate attempt to exclude these parties, then I'm not happy about it. Having actual ties is something I can support limiting, but one should not limit talk, talk helps lessen tension. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ctebah Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 You're the one who edited his text to "it's an open secret that all US does is spying". And? It's futile to deny the extent of US spying, both on other countries, and their own citizens, since Snowden exposed it all. Yes, obviously most countries spy on each other but US does it on a whole new level. +E.Worm Jimmy 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts