ZCZC
BFF-19
RUSSIA-US-SPACE-NASA-POLITICS
Russia demands explanation over US snub to space chief
MOSCOW, Jan 5, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Russia’s space agency on Saturday demanded
an explanation after NASA put off a planned visit to the United States by
Russia’s controversial space chief.
Dmitry Rogozin, a firebrand nationalist politician known for his anti-
Western rhetoric, was set to visit the US in February but NASA said Friday
that it was postponing his visit indefinitely.
Rogozin, appointed by President Vladimir Putin in May last year and
previously a deputy prime minister, is blacklisted and under US sanctions
over Russia’s actions in Ukraine.
Russia’s Roscosmos space agency said in a statement that “it expects
official explanations of NASA’s position” and stressed that Rogozin’s visit
was planned “in accordance with an invitation received earlier.”
It added a veiled warning that preparations for talks on cooperation with
the US on the ISS programme and deep space exploration are “so far not
suspended.”
The row comes as space exploration remains one of the few areas where
Washington and Moscow continue active cooperation despite political tensions.
The US needs Russia to ferry astronauts to the International Space Station.
NASA said in a statement Friday it had told Roscosmos that Rogozin’s visit
would “need to be postponed” and a new date “has not been identified,” USA
Today reported.
Plans for Rogozin to visit NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston had
prompted protests from US senators.
Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen said in a statement Wednesday that
NASA’s invitation to Rogozin “undercuts our message and undermines the United
States’ core national security objectives.”
The rescinded invitation came after NASA chief Jim Bridenstine visited
Russia in October, his first trip after he took up his post.
He observed the failed launch of a Soyuz rocket carrying two Russian and
NASA astronauts who managed to make an emergency landing.
He told TASS state news agency at the time that NASA had managed to
temporarily lift US sanctions on Rogozin to allow him to visit.
Rogozin has clashed with the US, suggesting American astronauts should use
trampolines instead of Russian rockets to reach the ISS after Washington
imposed sanctions over Moscow’s 2014 annexation of Crimea.
He recently joked Russia would send a mission to the Moon to “verify”
whether NASA lunar landings ever took place.
BSS/AFP/MSY/1602 hrs