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NASA chief says looking forward to meeting Roscosmos CEO

The date of his visit to Russia will depend on the coronavirus situation, Bill Nelson confirmed

WASHINGTON, January 11. /TASS/. US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Administrator Bill Nelson said on Tuesday he is looking forward to meeting with chief of Russia’s state space corporation Roscosmos Dmitry Rogozin but the date of his visit to Russia will depend on the coronavirus situation.

"I'm looking forward to meeting personally Dmitry, and in the meantime, we'll continue to talk as frequently as needed," he told a briefing answering a TASS question. "As to when that trip is going to occur. I am simply at the mercy of COVID. And until we see, subsiding this pandemic, I'm not going to be able to go and that's why we frequently utilize telephone calls. And of course, our agency is in constant contact."

He recalled that US astronauts are sent "on Russian Soyuz rockets to and from the International Space Station."

Roscosmos’ deputy director general, Sergey Savelyev, said in early December that Moscow hopes Nelson’s visit to Russia would take place in 2022. Rogozin said earlier that the NASA chief had promised to come to Russia with his family.

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United States Roscosmos NASA

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FACTBOX: Collective Security Treaty Organization

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