NASA astronauts, Roscosmos cosmonauts continue to work together on ISS - NASA

WASHINGTON. March 14 (Interfax) - Astronauts of the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the European Space Agency (ESA) and Roscosmos cosmonauts are continuing to work together on the International Space Station (ISS), there is no tension between them, NASA's ISS Program Manager Joel Montalbano said during a press briefing by the U.S. space agency.

"When you're in space, there are no borders. You don't see country lines or state lines. So, the teams continue to work together. Are they aware of what's going on on Earth? Absolutely. But the teams are professional, the astronauts and the cosmonauts are some of the most professional groups you'll ever see. They continue to operate well, they continue to operate above all this work and there really is no tension with the team. They've been trained to do a job and they're up there doing their job," Montalbano said at a press briefing.

According to Montalbano, talks on cross flights between the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and Roscosmos are underway, and U.S. astronauts will shortly travel to Russia for training on board a Soyuz carrier rocket.

"At this time we still plan to work the crew swap. And so, we still have scheduled training for cosmonauts to come to Houston Hawthorne and our team to go over to Star City and train for the Soyuz," he said.