OREANDA-NEWS According to him, interaction in space with the USSR and then with Russia began with the Soyuz-Apollo program in 1975 despite the fact that the two countries were in a state of cold war at that time. "Until today, we maintain this cooperation", - said Nelson.

He recalled the latest launch of the Russian multipurpose laboratory module “Nauka” to the International Space Station (ISS). "In fact, this morning they launched another important component of the ISS from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan which will dock with this huge space station", -  said the director of NASA. "They continue to be our partners and together with us support the work of this space station, conduct experiments", - he added.

"Look at the contrast with China", - Nelson said. According to him, "China's space program is also a military space program". "I think we are in a space race with China. They are aggressive, they are good [at this] but I would like them to do what the Soviet Union did in its time in terms of the civil space program, I would like so that they cooperate [with the US] and be transparent", - added the head of NASA.