WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th November, 2021) Talks between NASA and Roscosmos Russian Federal Space Agency officials about carrying out a cosmonaut-astronaut crew exchange program starting in fall 2022 are going well, NASA International Space Station (ISS) Deputy Manager Dana Weigel said at a press conference.
"We've had a lot of good discussions with our Russian colleagues about doing a crew exchange," Weigal told a press conference at the Johnson Space Center in Houston on Monday. "Those discussions are moving along very well. We are targeting next fall to start that exchange... Those discussions are still progressing."
The hope and goal on both sides is to fly a Russian cosmonaut on the fifth US SpaceX vehicle and for an astronaut to fly up to the ISS on a Soyuz flight, Weigel explained.
"Hopefully we'll get something signed very shortly," Weigal said.
NASA has started initial planning for cooperative missions with the Russian federal space agency Roscosmos to fly US astronauts on Soyuz vehicles and Russian cosmonauts on SpaceX ones, agency Associate Administrator for Space Operations Kathy Lueders said on October 30.
However, on November 9, Sputnik reported that before such cross flights could be approved, Roscosmos officials will ask NASA why one of the SpaceX Crew Dragon parachutes failed on a recent mission. The four astronauts on board returned safely as the other parachutes successfully deployed.
