NASA’s Nelson Urges U.S.-Russian Space Cooperation Must Not Stop

June 11, 2021 (EIRNS)—In an interview with Politico following his meeting with Roscosmos Director Dmitry Rogozin, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said: “Despite the politics, and some of the rather less-than-soft statements you hear that sound more political, nevertheless if you talk to the Russian space workers, they want this cooperation to continue with the Americans. So I talked to Rogozin about this. I’ve said, ‘This is unique, the kind of relationship where we can be at peace cooperating with each other, no matter what our rivalries are on terra firma.’ We are partners in space, and I don’t want that to cease.

“We’ve seen, for example, just recently they’ve got some kind of module that they are going to launch to the International Space Station, which I think is a pretty good indication that they’re not going to abandon it in four years,” Nelson continued.

Responding to a question about his meeting with Rogozin, he said:

“Our politics have become very strained. But where is the one area that we have been able to cooperate? It’s been ever since 1975, when an American spacecraft in the middle of the Cold war rendezvoused and docked with a Russian spacecraft, and the crews lived together for nine days. Ever since we have been cooperating.”

At the same time Rogozin wrote on his Telegram channel: “We have nothing against cooperation, the only way to it is lifting the sanctions against Roscosmos enterprises.”

Bespeaking that cooperation, Russia’s Progress MS-17 space freighter will launch on June 30 to deliver Russian food to the ISS. Astronauts Mark Vande Hei of the U.S., who will get 51 varieties of meals, and Akihiko Hoshide of Japan will receive 38. Russian cosmonauts Oleg Novitsky and Pyotr Dubrov asked for mustard, horseradish sauce, ketchup, and fresh fruits and vegetables.