RAS headquarters. Image: Nataliya Sadovskaya
Camaraderie between Slayton (left) and Leonov on Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. Image: NASA
Image: Putin with winners of Presidential prizes in Science and Innovation for Young Scientists in February 2017. Image: Kremlin
Image: Becky Ferreira
The IBR-2 reactor. Image: Becky Ferreira
Magnet, with lights. Image: Becky Ferreira
SHE Factory cyclotron. Image: Becky Ferreira
Mars exhibit at IKI. Image: Becky Ferreira
Oganov's students. Image: Becky Ferreira
Robotics laboratory at ITMO. Image: Becky Ferreira
But Russia has a way of rebounding. The scientific community is beginning to reclaim its far-flung researchers back within its borders. Oganov, after 16 years abroad, accepted a megagrant in 2013 and set up his laboratory at MIPT. Two years later, he became a professor at Skoltech, and now splits his time between Stony Brook University in New York, and his Russian professorships. Oganov is one of many scientists we met who returned to the nation after a prolonged absence, and calls himself "a new guy in Russia" who is "still getting to know the ropes.""It is clear that science should be free of any politics"
March for Science, April 22. Image: Becker1999 from Grove City, OH
Still, most scientists I spoke with shared Oganov's disinclination toward getting entangled in political activism, prioritizing their scientific partnerships over sabre-rattling between nations. According to David Senske, the American Venera-D team lead based at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, waxing tensions between Russia and the United States have not interfered with IKI and NASA's joint dream of exploring Venus."In such politically difficult times, science becomes a real soft power, because through scientific collaboration, countries continue to keep relationships"

The Kremlin. Image: Becky Ferreira
Meanwhile, Andrei Konyaev, who ran Lenta.ru's science and technology section until he quit over Timchenko's firing, created his own science news site, N+1, funded by private investors. It has since blossomed into one of Russia's most popular independent science websites.Now that he has developed his own science readership, Konyaev's editorial instinct is to explore the journalistic autonomy that Lenta.ru was denied. With about a dozen people on staff, N+1 covers a range of scientific topics from around the world. When I ask him, over Skype, about reporting on issues that are controversial in Russia, such as commercial science figures like Elon Musk, he said he is "twice as cautious" to make sure all the facts are airtight.Read More: Russia and America Are Collaborating on the Most Ambitious Venus Mission Ever
Catherine the Great statue. Image: Becky Ferreira
