"I hope that when our colleagues in Russia see what we're trying to achieve, they will support what we're trying to accomplish - to achieve norms of behaviour for a peaceful and prosperous future", Gold said on Friday. "We hope for Russian support and look forward to engaging with Russia moving ahead".
Gold said NASA officials remained hopeful that Russia will take a hard look at the Artemis Accords outlines that have now been unveiled - as opposed to media leaks - especially given that the Artemis Accords are grounded in the Outer Space Treaty.
"In many respects, Russia already has joined the Accords as it is a signatory to the Outer Space Treaty. Russia is already talking to the US and NASA about participation in Gateway... A great deal of Russian cooperation on Artemis may center around Gateway", Gold said.
Gateway is the planned US mini-space station to orbit the Moon.
The Artemis Accords stipulate NASA will ask countries that seek to cooperate on the agency’s Artemis lunar exploration program to follow a series of principles to support a "safe, prosperous and peaceful" future in space in bilateral agreements with the US space agency.
