Russia, US Hold Talks on Safe Deorbiting of International Space Station

A joint meeting between Russian and American officials on the International Space Station (ISS) took place in Moscow, with a key focus on mitigating atmospheric leak risks and planning the safe deorbiting of the space station.

The discussions were led by Russia’s state space corporation, Roscosmos, The Caspian Post reports, citing TASS.

"The Russian-US commission on the ISS held a meeting in Moscow. The commission’s experts discussed among other issues, measures to reduce risks stemming from air leaks from the transfer module and safe deorbiting of the ISS. The meeting was attended by acclaimed Russian and US space experts," it said.

The commission was set up in 1996 and was co-chaired by Vladimir Utkin, a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and NASA astronaut Thomas Stafford, a member of the Soyuz-Apollo program. Now, the commission’s co-chairs are Russian cosmonaut Sergey Krikalev, Roscosmos deputy director general, and NASA astronaut Robert Cabana.