Russia's state-run TASS news agency will open the world’s first permanent news bureau on board the International Space Station (ISS), it reported Wednesday.
Cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin will report on the orbital outpost’s daily routine and “share first-hand experience” of life on the ISS, Russia’s space chief told TASS.
“A special enlightenment and educational project by Roscosmos and TASS is expected to popularize Russia’s activity in space,” said Roscosmos head Dmitry Rogozin.
Misurkin will launch into the ISS with a correspondent’s ID on Dec. 8 as part of a joint agreement signed by TASS director general Sergei Mikhailov and Rogozin.
“We’ve eyed the idea that outer space may be the target of our news expansion,” Mikhailov said.
Their announcement came a day after Russia’s military confirmed that it had tested a satellite-destroying weapon. NASA and the United States decried the test as “dangerous and irresponsible” for the crew members onboard the ISS.
The ISS crew was forced to take shelter in their return ships Monday after the missile test put more than 1,500 pieces of trackable debris into Earth’s orbit.
Moscow brushed off U.S. concerns and accused Washington of testing its own space weapons.
