There’s no question relations with Russia are complex and positive in some ways and negative in others, and even calling any one aspect of relations “postive” or “negative” is a reduction of the actual situation with each issue to one vague characterization.
It’s normal and almost always the case that relation between all pairs of countries are a mix of complex things, some of which can be seen as positive, some as negative, and some both in different ways.
What’s weird is feeling a need to reduce the concept to the point where there would be just one “for” or “against” value, and to then wonder “how can” it be otherwise.
Sure it’s ironic or maybe odd to be cooperating yet have military forces possibly clashing in the Middle East, but there is a lot of weirdness in the Middle East, in Putin and the Kremlin, in Trump and Washington D.C., the suggestion of weird deals between Putin, Trump, and/or organized criminals, etc., and space agencies are much more civilized than all of that, so _why is it so surprising to you that you would phrase a question like this starting with “How can…”?