NASA has a large presence in the Moscow area, with offices at the U.S. Embassy, Star City, the Moscow Mission Control Center, and the Russian Aviation and Space Agency.

History

NASA and Russia have a long history of extensive and diverse cooperation, starting with space biology and medicine, geodesy, and geodynamics in the 1960s. In 1972, the United States and the Soviet Union signed the Civil Space Agreement, which expanded this cooperation into other areas including space science, Earth Science, satellite-based search and rescue, and, later, human space flight. The first docking in space between spacecrafts from two different countries took place in 1975, when the crews of the U.S. Apollo craft and the Soviet Soyuz opened the hatches between their vehicles for the historic “handshake in space” during the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project mission.

Human space flight

International Space Station. The ISS is a U.S.-led multinational effort with participation by Russia, Japan, Canada, the European Space Agency (which includes 11 member-nations), and Brazil. Permanent human presence began on November 1, 2000, with a crew of three. Russia’s contributions to the ISS are significant and include the Zvezda Service Module, which was launched in July 2000, a Docking Compartment launched in September 2001, regularly launched Progress resupply spacecrafts, and Soyuz spacecrafts, which are launched twice a year. A Soyuz spacecraft always remains docked to ISS to serve as the crew return vehicle. In addition to these contributions, Russia built and launched the first element of the ISS, the Zarya FGB Functional Cargo Block under contract with the Boeing Company.

Earth Science cooperation

NASA has cooperated with the U.S.S.R. and Russia for over 30 years in the fields of Earth science, global change research and environmental monitoring. The overall goal of this cooperation is to advance the understanding of the Earth’s systems through the use of space-based sensors, which make quantitative measurements of the state and behavior of the Earth’s atmosphere, ocean, land surface, biology, and interior.

NASA’s cooperation with Russia is coordinated through the joint U.S.-Russia Earth Sciences Joint Working Group (ESJWG). NASA and the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) are the co-chairs of the ESJWG. Other representatives from various U.S. and Russian government agencies, universities, and institutes also participate. In between formal meetings of the ESJWG, scientists continue cooperative activities and initiate ideas for future collaboration to be brought forward to the next ESJWG meeting. The ESJWG has met on an almost yearly basis since 1988.

Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE III)/Meteor 3M mission. The SAGE III/Meteor 3M mission is NASA’s major space flight mission and highest priority cooperation with Russia in the area of Earth Science. The mission is designed to provide long-term, global measurements of key components of the Earth’s atmosphere and conduct important scientific investigations of the state of the ozone layer. The satellite was launched December 2001 on a Zenit-2 rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

High Resolution Picture Transmission (HRPT) Stations and Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) data. This cooperative research effort is focused on the study of boreal forests and to provide data to international programs, such as the International Geosphere Biosphere Program. Three NASA-loaned HRPT stations are installed in Siberia for the collection of 1-km image data from the AVHRR instrument on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) polar orbiting satellites. The raw, processed and analyzed data is available to the international science community on a full and open basis.

U.S. Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) program. Russia is participating in the SeaWiFS program, which observes the world’s oceans from space to measure ocean color (phytoplankton) in efforts to understand the role of the oceans in the global carbon cycle. A representative from the Russian Academy of Sciences Shirshov Institute of Oceanology is a principal investigator on NASA’s SeaWiFS mission and a member of the science team.

Space Geodesy. NASA is currently cooperating with the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences in a trilateral cooperative effort in Very Long Baseline Interferometry geodetic experiments. This cooperation encompasses the use of a NASA-loaned data acquisition system installed in St. Petersburg, and of the radiotelescope of the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory in Simeiz, Ukraine. The experiments focus on improved accuracy in VLBI measurements required for studies of Earth orientation, angular momentum, and crustal dynamics. In addition, Russia and the U.S. are cooperating on the laser tracking of satellites of mutual interest, including U.S., Russian, and Italian geodesic satellites, Russian GLONASS satellites, U.S. Global Positioning Satellites, and the U.S./French TOPEX/Poseidon oceanography satellite.

Aerosol Robotic NETwork (AERONET). NASA has loaned several sun photometers to various Russian institutions in support of the global AERONET program. The sun photometers measure vital aerosol optical properties and water vapor, which contribute to a more-detailed understanding of global atmospheric change phenomena with a particular focus on the assessment of air quality.

Space science cooperation

The U.S.-Russia Space Science Executive Joint Working Group (SSEJWG) manages NASA’s cooperation with Russia in space science. Forerunners to this current joint working group were established in a NASA/U.S.S.R. Academy of Sciences agreement, which served as a basis for the 1972 Civil Space Agreement. The joint working groups met from 1971-82, and from 1987-91. In 1992, the groups consolidated into the present SSEJWG. The SSEJWG has held annual meetings since 1992.

Scientific Balloon Flights. Scientific ballooning is an excellent mechanism for cooperation between NASA and Russia in space science. NASA-Russia scientific balloon cooperation began in 1992 with the establishment of a Balloon Implementation Team under the SSEJWG. Work is continuing on joint scientific ballooning campaigns.

Mars Exploration. NASA has cooperated with Soviet and Russian space scientists on Mars exploration since the 1980s. In recent years NASA and Rosaviakosmos have collaborated on four major Mars missions: NASA Mars Odyssey, NASA Mars Climate Orbiter, NASA Mars Polar Lander, and Russian Mars 96. Although the latter three missions were lost prior to completion, the Russian High Energy Neutron Detector (HEND) on the Mars Odyssey spacecraft has returned data that suggest the presence of substantial quantities of frozen water in the upper surface of Mars.

 Mars Odyssey remains in orbit around Mars mapping the chemical composition of the planet’s surface. NASA and its Russian counterparts continue to explore cooperative possibilities for the future exploration of Mars.

NASA’s Russian Partners

Most of NASA’s cooperation with Russia is conducted through the Russian Aviation and Space Agency (Rosaviakosmos). Rosaviakosmos was established in 1992 as the Russian Space Agency (RSA). In 1999, RSA’s mandate was expanded to include the aviation industry, at which time its name was changed to Rosaviakosmos. Rosaviakosmos oversees the activities of over 400 separate entities in the aerospace sector, including government firms and joint-stock companies. For Human Space Flight activities NASA cooperates with a number of other organizations, including Rocket Space Corporation-Energia, Khrunichev State Space Science Production Center, Central Scientific Research Institute of Machine-Building (TsNIIMash), Moscow Mission Control Center (TsUP), The Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center (TsPK), and the Institute of Bio-Medical Problems (IMBP). In Earth science and space science, NASA also cooperates with the Russian Academy of Sciences and many of its institutes.