MOSCOW, April 11. /TASS/. The visit of NASA Administrator Charles Bolden to Russia has demonstrated that the United States and Russia will maintain friendly relations regarding the work at the ISS despite the current geopolitical environment, according to the Head of the country’s Federal Space Agency Igor Komarov speaking with RT TV news channel.
Bolden visited Russia in late March this year for an evaluation of the recently completed ISS year-long mission. "I saw him (Bolden) talk to the cosmonauts and to (executive director of manned space programs of the Space Agency) Sergey Krikalev, with whom he had spent so much time onboard the space station, as well as training and preparing for the mission. And I’ve seen the relations between Mikhail Korniyenko and Scott Kelly after they’d spent a year together at the ISS. And I’m sure this spirit and this relationship will live on. This is a sentiment I’ve seen from cosmonauts who have participated in joint missions, as well as from those who have trained together. And I would say that both space agencies, namely Roscosmos and NASA, also share this attitude. You see, looking from outer space, you don’t see any borders on Earth, and there is an understanding that all our political differences and rivalries are something we should leave down here, rather than drag with us into outer space. Space is a realm we can only explore through joint effort," Komarov said.
"Last year was the 40th anniversary of the Soyuz-Apollo Project, and we had a big celebration for this milestone event. And there I saw Tom Stafford and Alexei Leonov (crew commanders who participated in the Soyuz-Apollo mission - TASS) address the audience and share their memories. The level of cooperation and the spirit of collaboration this mission managed to achieve against the background of the Cold War and the highly strained relations between the then-Soviet Union and the United States is truly remarkable," Komarov added.