By Andrea Hargraves 
Brazil’s history in space is turbulent. Although it is part of International Space Station (ISS), Our country was expelled from the laboratory due to financial and logistical problems and failure to keep promises. On this occasion, the NASA It went so far as to remove all references to Brazil and even the country’s flags from its official reports and statements.
In the following lines, the file digital look Explains why Brazil was evicted from the space station. The story begins in 1996 and extends to 2010, including the flight of the first Brazilian astronaut, Marcos Pontes, which took place in 2006.
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Brazil was invited to the International Space Station project
It all began in 1996, when Brazil – at that time, ruled by Fernando Henrique Cardoso – decided to enter the International Space Station project as the only developing country among the participating countries. The call arose because the then President of the United States, Bill Clinton, was in favor of the FHC government.
The sole responsibility of the Brazilian government was to deliver certain parts to help build the laboratory between 2000 and 2004. In the document signed on October 14, 2007, Brazil was responsible for providing six components that, although not essential, were necessary to build the International Space Station .
These parts were:
- Technology Experimental Installation (TEF);
- Search Monitor Window – Block 2 (WORF-2);
- Express Pallet for Space Station Experiments (EXPRESS);
- Logistics Pressure Container (ULC);
- charge processing interface adapter (CHIA);
- ZI-ULC Attachment System (ZI-ULC-AS).
The lack of money put the whole project at risk
The problem is that these parts were very expensive to produce, and the Brazilian government didn’t release the budget needed to deliver all the components. Rather than open the game to NASA, Brazil tried to delay delivery of the items as much as possible, not least because Marcos Pontes was already in training for the US to launch on a space mission.
Seeing that Brazil would not be able to deliver the parts on time, NASA began not only to look for other suppliers, but also to cut Brazil’s participation in the ISS project. However, for diplomatic reasons, the US space agency has tried to make new agreements.
To stay on the project, Brazil needed to deliver only one component, the Logistics pressure container, by 2006. However, even with the cuts, the government did not receive sufficient funds to produce the component. As a result, Marcos Pontes was removed from NASA’s official flight schedules.
Brazil was quietly removed from the project
In May 2007, Estadão published an article quoting a NASA consultant, John Logsdon, saying that Brazil was out of the space station project. Logsdon said in the text that NASA had given enough time to deliver the parts.
For diplomatic reasons, Brazil has not been officially expelled from the International Space Station program. However, in a press release sent to the press in November 2008, to celebrate the space station’s tenth anniversary, NASA did not mention Brazil among the project’s backers. In addition, the Brazilian flag was removed from all labels and decorations in the laboratory.
Photo: Disclosure/NASA
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