NASA head: We have cooperation with our Russian colleagues

By ALEX SANZ
Associated Press

ATLANTA (AP) — NASA Administrator Bill Nelson on Friday played down recent comments by the head of Russia’s space agency that the United States would have to use broomsticks to fly to space after Russia said it would stop supplying rocket engines to U.S. companies. Nelson told The Associated Press that Dmitry Rogozin “spouts off every now and then” and praised the people who work in the Russian civilian space program. Russia’s war in Ukraine has resulted in canceled launches and broken contracts, and many worry Rogozin is putting decades of a peaceful off-planet partnership at risk, most notably at the International Space Station. NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei is due to leave the ISS with two Russians for a touchdown in Kazakhstan on March 30.