What can we learn from a 45-year-old handshake in space?

As we’re on the verge of another space race, Mick O’Hare looks back at the historic greeting between an American astronaut and Russian cosmonaut in 1975, which ushered in an era of space cooperation

Alexei Leonov and Thomas Stafford shake hands over Metz, as the Cold War rages on below them (AFP/Getty)

The United States wants to play space rangers. That was the predictable charge emanating from Russia after Nasa announced in May that it has drawn up a set of principles for when it returns to the moon in 2024 (fingers crossed). Its partners, both national space agencies and private companies, would be expected to abide by what it is calling the Artemis Accords, named after its moonshot successor to Apollo. In other words, it wants everybody to behave nicely as the new moon rush kicks off and the accords, Nasa claims, are only there to make sure nobody steals the playground space hopper.

Common objectives, including peaceful rules of exploration, transparency of mission plans, exploitation of lunar resources, emergency aid, standardisation of design principles and a host of legal jargon comprise what the agency calls “Principles for a safe, peaceful and prosperous future”. Nasa insists the accords are in keeping with the Outer Space Treaty of 1967 – currently, the default document detailing law beyond our atmosphere – to which it is a ratified signatory, along with 108 other nations.

However, the United States’ rivals in space see the accords in a different light. China, ploughing its own furrow in orbit, seems set to ignore them while Russia has openly criticised the proposals as a means, no less, for the US to annex the moon. Dmitry Rogozin, head of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, described them as nothing more than a US plan to invade the lunar surface like it had “Iraq and Afghanistan”, and as a means of freezing Russia out of future collaborations. Nasa, for its part, claims it just wants to clarify what is acceptable in outer space and for the rules to apply to everybody.