NASA administrator optimistic about Russia's support on ISS; cites cold war-era friendship

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson has shown optimism on whether Russia will continue supporting the International Space Station (ISS) beyond 2024. In a media briefing held earlier today, Nelson said “I have the confidence” over the possibility of Russian confidence as he cited America’s relationship with Moscow that dates back to the cold war-era. 

"I have the confidence because, look at the history. In the middle of the cold war with the Soviet Union, 1975. An American spacecraft and a Soviet spacecraft rendezvoued and docked (at the space station) and those crew became fast friends forever", Nelson said.

He even recalled the instance when NASA astronaut Thomas Stafford honoured Soviet commander Alexei Leonov in Moscow after the latter passed away in 2019. "I see that right now, I see the professional relationship between the Russians onboard (the ISS). I see friendliness between the two crews...in mission control in Moscow and also in Houston".

Nelson mentions Mark Vande Hei's arrival in Russian spacecraft

Further emphasising the potential of space cooperation with Moscow, Nelson said that NASA was ready to exchange crews to fly Russian cosmonauts in its spacecraft and NASA astronauts in Soyuz rockets. He also mentioned Mark Vande Hei, who returned from the space station after spending 355 days in space in a Russian spacecraft last month. "Mark Vande Hei just returned after a year in space. He came back with his crew. Who was his crew? The Soyuz and they just landed in Kazakhstan", the NASA chief said. 

He finally added that despite the situation unfolding in Ukraine "due to political decisions being made by the President of Russia", he sees that professional relations with Russia will remain unaffected. Nelson's prediction might be true as Russia, on April 25, performed a course-correction of the space station to save it from space debris. Roscosmos performed a maneuver wherein the space station's orbit was raised by about two kilometres.

This was revealed by Roscosmos Director General Dmitry Rogozin who had threatened to end its cooperation in space citing the economic sanctions imposed on Russia for invading Ukraine.