Space above divisions – Republic

AFP

Russia and the United States extended cooperation in the framework of the International Space Station until 2024. Planning a joint expedition to Mars.

The Russian space agency Roskosmos and NASA extended American cooperation in the International Space Station until 2024. According to Russian news agency Interfax, the document was signed on kosmordomie Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. According to this information, the heads of Roskosmos and NASA also agreed to build the new space station after the International Space Station (ISS) will be phased out.

– We have come to an agreement and the countries who participate in the ISS, have already started work on the draft of the new station. The first step is that the International Space Station will operate until 2024, and further everything will depend on the stages of a new project – said the director of Roskosmos Igor Komarov. According to the project of the new international station will be open to cooperation with other countries who did not participate in the ISS.

The head of NASA gen. Charles Bolden said that the cooperation with the Russian agency Roskosmos will continue not only in the ISS, but also in preparation for the trip to Mars. – Our wspłópraca is very important and the common objective of the expedition to Mars. We talked about how best to use the funds to our actions will not be repeated – Bolden said.

The meeting of heads of agency Roskosmos and NASA was held in conjunction with the successful launch of the Russian rocket Soyuz TMA-16M crew which ( American Scott Kelly and Russians Gennady Padalka and Mikhail Kornienko) on Sunday, safely reached the International Space Station. Astronauts joined three others (Samantha Cristoforetti (Italy), Terry W. Virts (USA) and Anton Szkaplerow (Russia), which reside in the space of 23 November last year.

At the same time on the International Space Station can stay up to six people. ISS is a project which involved 15 countries (Belgium, Brazil, Germany, Denmark, Spain, Italy, Canada, the Netherlands, Norway, France, Switzerland, Sweden and Japan), of which the largest contribution is Russia and the USA.

Meanwhile, in April 2014, NASA issued a statement that “given the ongoing Russian violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the agency suspends most cooperation with the Russian Federation, in addition to cooperation concerning the activities of the International Space Station.