MOSCOW. Jan 24 (Interfax) - Russian cosmonaut Nikolai Chub was supposed to undergo training on emergency situations at the United States' segment of the International Space Station (ISS) in the U.S., and the U.S.'s refusal to issue a visa for him puts the ISS's security in danger in case an emergency happens, the press service for the Roscosmos state corporation said.
"Cosmonaut Nikolai Chub needs an entry visa to the U.S. to participate in the first five-week-long session to learn about the U.S. segment of the ISS. A space flight is impossible in principle without lectures and practical studies on the model of the U.S. segment, learning about the operations of its systems, understanding the interaction between the systems of the U.S. and Russian segment, as well as undergoing training on emergency situation," the press service said.
The situation "casts doubts over the safety itself of the Russian cosmonaut's stay at the ISS and the security of the U.S. segment of the station due to the absence of the Russian cosmonaut's training in case of emergency," the press service said.
A source familiar with the situation told Interfax earlier on Saturday that the United States refused to grant a visa for Russian cosmonaut Nikolai Chub who was supposed to travel to NASA's Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center to take part in trainings. "The U.S. refused to grant a visa for our cosmonaut Nikolai Chub. He was supposed to come to the Johnson Space Center for an official training session," the source said.
Roscosmos CEO Dmitry Rogozin, for his part, said that he will ask the opinion of the NASA director in light of this incident.
Rogozin later described the visa refusal as "a dangerous precedent for cooperation at the International Space Station."
"It has never occurred to Russia to refuse a visa to a U.S. astronaut heading to the Star City to train for a space flight," he said.
Chub is supposed to perform his first space flight in the spring of 2023.