Russian experts believe there is no reason for Russia and the United States to cooperate in lunar development!
Here, the European Space Agency appears to be a more reliable partner.
Reported by TASS on May 29.
Professor Alexander Rodin from the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering at Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology told reporters: "It is unlikely that Russia and the U.S. will collaborate on building a lunar base or developing the Moon—this is due not only to geopolitical factors but also because there are other partners with greater scientific appeal, such as China, India, and Europe."
"Most likely, we will advance our modest lunar program in some way without cooperating with the United States, instead working with other partners. Despite the current political situation, Europe—not the EU, but the European Space Agency—appears to be a more reliable partner here, and our relations with India and China are also gradually improving," Rodin said.
The expert added that Russia should not overly focus on recent statements made by the head of the U.S. lunar program reported in Russian media.
According to him, the U.S. has not yet shown interest in expanding cooperation with Russia beyond existing projects.
These existing projects include collaborative work on the International Space Station, as well as individual successful collaborations between American research teams and Russia’s Institute of Space Research and other Russian scientific institutions in lunar and Martian research.
"We must not forget that Russia currently possesses technologies unavailable to other countries in the world. For example, we have a prototype of a nuclear-powered space tug, and we hope to conduct flight tests in the near future.
Therefore, all participants are interested in Russia—but this does not mean we should blindly follow those who praise us from the podium," Rodin concluded.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1866563972899843/
Disclaimer: This article represents the personal views of the author.