I would consider technical collaboration in this space (pardon the pun) to generally be a great thing. Missions to Mars have historically been very difficult:

I would consider technical collaboration in this space (pardon the pun) to generally be a great thing. Missions to Mars have historically been very difficult: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_missions_to_Mars http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_missions_to_Mars Hopefully, this kind of partnership doesn't get weighed down too heavily by the intricacies of international politics.