Although Russian interference in the American elections is still being investigated and widely discussed in America, the space agencies of Russia and the United States have just signed a cooperation agreement on a project to create a circumlunar station that will allow mankind to continue to explore space, first from circumlunar orbit, and then beyond.
This agreement has become yet another proof that outer space is a truly international space, where there are no borders.
This agreement was signed just a week before the 60th anniversary of the launch of the first artificial Earth satellite.
In 1957, the United States and Russia were rivals in space, trying to overtake each other, creating rockets of ever larger sizes (in fact, this was a demonstration of the ability to drop an atomic bomb anywhere on the planet) and striving to get to the moon, culminating in the first steps of the Nile Armstrong on its surface. This space race was actually a very costly demonstration of technological superiority.
After the end of this period of intense race, the space agencies of Russia and the United States jointly implemented the Soyuz-Apollo project, in which the ships of the two countries successfully docked to demonstrate that Russia and America are capable of cooperating.
However, after that, they parted ways. The Russians have created a series of orbiting space stations, the largest of which is Mir.
The Americans also built their own space station called Skylab, and then concentrated on developing a reusable space shuttle.
Funding crisis
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In the 1980s, President Ronald Reagan proposed building a giant space station called Freedom with contributions from Canada, Europe and Japan. However, the American Congress lost interest in funding space megaprojects, so the issue of this space station was constantly revised, and in the end it became obvious that the only way to implement this project was to get outside help.
And who else could you turn to if not the USSR, which also launched people into space?
It was then that the real cooperation between the United States and Russia in space exploration began.
The parties signed an agreement, renamed the project the International Space Station, and since then, the two former rivals have worked closely with each other to create and manage the $ 149 billion project, along with other partners including Canada. For some time the station was commanded by Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield.
Recently, after the Americans curtailed their space shuttle program, only Russian Soyuz spacecraft began delivering American astronauts to the International Space Station.
Now Russia and the United States have agreed to create an orbital laboratory that will serve as a distant outpost, a platform for future missions to the lunar surface and, possibly, a staging post for future flights to Mars. Most likely, other countries, including China, will also take part in this project, and funds for its implementation will come, including from private sources.
It is true that space is such a space where there are no boundaries. When viewed from the surface of the Moon, the Earth looks very much like a blue marble with no visible boundaries. Space is also a very harsh environment, where your survival is directly dependent on the actions of others. There is no room for controversy and political divisions. Only together we can solve the problem of outer space exploration.
It is a great pity that the spirit of cooperation cannot now be transferred to the surface of the Earth.
Bob McDonald
