Ambitious projects connected with Moon colonization could become a major factor of interaction between Russia and the US in hard times.
Sergey Saveliev, Russia’s Roscosmos state agency Deputy CEO for International Cooperation, is quoted by the Roscosmos website as saying, “I regret that the recent years have seen direct communication channels between Roscosmos and NASA deteriorate significantly. Instead of discussing dozens of projects of mutual interest everything boils down to either launching astronauts to the International Space Station as part of the crewed program or supplying Russian RD-180/181 rocket engines to the US. Ambitious projects connected with Moon colonization could become a major factor for interaction between the two countries during difficult times.”
According to Saveliev, Roscosmos delegation had been officially invited to the US to discuss a wide range of questions, “but in the long run NASA head Jim Bridenstine’s invitation was withdrawn under the pressure of the Senate. We officially invited NASA management to Russia but didn’t receive any answer. I hope it will follow and will be a positive one.”