Roscosmos has started negotiations with NASA on reservation of seats on the new us manned spaceship Orion for Russian cosmonauts. This was stated by the Director for manned programs of the state Corporation Sergei Krikalev, reports RIA Novosti.
“The possibility of cross-joint of the flight crews on both Russian and American ships. This could be a good safety net to each other,” he said, adding that Russia and the USA intend to continue to work together on the ISS.
Krikalev explained that information about the possible allocation of the Russian segment of the ISS into an independent station came after rumors that the US plans to flood the ISS upon completion of the operation. “This is no solution. Neither NASA nor the Russian space Agency do not put the task to reduce cooperation.”
August 23, the American Corporation Lockheed Martin and NASA conducted a key test of reusable manned spacecraft Orion, designed to send to the moon and Mars astronauts. The tests deemed successful.
The first flight of Orion took place on 5 December 2014. The ship was removed from the Earth at a distance of 5.8 thousand kilometers and crossed the radiation belt of the Earth. The last time a spacecraft made a similar journey in the final mission of the Apollo program in 1972.
The second test start, also unmanned, scheduled for 2019, when the camera will fly around the moon. Start with a crew planned for 2021, sending humans to Mars in 2030-ies.