NASA invites Russia to explore moon
MOSCOW, 21 June (AFP) - The US space agency NASA has invited its Russian counterpart Roskosmos to join in its moon exploration plans, the head of Roskosmos said Tuesday.
"We received an official invitation at Bourget to take part in the moon programme," Anatoly Perminov told journalists, referring to an aerospace show near Paris that closed Sunday.
"We are currently evaluating the proposal and this question will be studied in detail during our meeting in September or October with the new head of NASA, Michael Griffin," he was quoted as saying in comments confirmed by his spokesman Viacheslav Davidenko.
US President George W. Bush said last year that a new round of moon landings should begin in 2015 in preparation for exploration missions to other parts of the solar system, starting with Mars.
(c) 2005 AFP