Russia refuses to grant visa to candidate for head of NASA mission to Russia: Sources

MOSCOW: A candidate for the head of the NASA mission to Russia has not received a diplomatic visa in response to a similar US move toward Russian diplomats, three sources in the space and rocket industry told Sputnik.

“In response to the US refusal to grant visas to Russian diplomats, it was decided not to issue a visa for a NASA representative, who was going to head the agency’s office in the US Embassy in Russia,” one of the sources said.

Two more sources have confirmed this information. One of them said that Russia had acted in the same way after the appointment of the current head of the NASA mission to Russia, Tricia Mack.

“After her appointment to Moscow, she spent 1.5 years in Houston and visited only launches and landings in Kazakhstan because had not a visa during this period,” the source said.

The sources have not mentioned the name of the candidate for the head of the NASA mission to Russia.

The space agency has not commented on the issue yet. (UNI)