Russia, US Can Cooperate In Space Despite Differences - NASA Chief

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th June, 2021) Russia and the United States can still cooperate in space in spite of their divergent positions, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said on Tuesday.

"Even countries that we have differences with, in space we can cooperate, that fact is not lost on the leaders of Russia and the United States that will meet tomorrow at the summit," Nelson said at the Global Space Exploration Conference in Russia's St. Petersburg, speaking by video link.

Both nations have been "living and working together" in space since 1975, Nelson said, recalling a rendezvous of the Soviet and the American spacecraft � Soyuz and Apollo, respectively � that ended the space race.

"That was an example of cooperation and it continues to this day, in space, especially on the International Space Station [ISS]," Nelson noted.

Russia has recently announced that it may withdraw from the ISS by 2025 and create its own space outpost. According to Roscosmos General Director Dmitry Rogozin, Russia could hand over responsibility for the Russian segment of the international space station to the US. He later said, however, that Russia may revise its decision to withdraw from the ISS and build its own orbital station if Washington agrees to lift sanctions.

Nelson, for his part, has repeatedly stressed that NASA was committed to partnership with Roscosmos on the ISS.