21st March: On Friday, three Russian cosmonauts landed at the International Space Station wearing yellow flying suits with blue embellishments, which appeared to resemble the colors of the Ukrainian flag. The men were the first newcomers to the space station since Russia’s war in Ukraine began last month.
At 8:55 p.m. Friday, Russian space corporation Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev, Denis Matveyev, and Sergey Korsakov launched their Soyuz MS-21 spacecraft safely from the Russia-leased Baikonur launch complex in Kazakhstan (9:25 p.m. IST). Just over three hours later, they docked at the station, joining two Russians, four Americans, and a German on the orbiting base.
Mr. Artemyev was wearing a blue flight suit in video captured as the spacecraft prepared to connect with the space station. It was unclear what message, if any, the yellow costumes they donned were supposed to convey.
Mr. Artemyev was asked about the suits when the cosmonauts were able to communicate with their families back on Earth. He stated that each crew selects their own.
“It became our turn to pick a color. But in fact, we had accumulated a lot of yellow material so we needed to use it. So that’s why we had to wear yellow,” he said.
Many people have used the Ukrainian flag and its colors to demonstrate support for the country since the war began.
As a result of the war, spacecraft launches have been canceled and contracts have been broken. After Russia indicated it would stop selling rocket engines to American corporations, Roscosmos chairman Dmitry Rogozin threatened that the US would have to fly into space on “broomsticks.” Many people are concerned that Mr. Rogozin is jeopardizing decades of peaceful off-planet cooperation, particularly at the space station.
“That’s just Dmitry Rogozin,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson told The Associated Press of Mr. Rogozin’s remarks. “That’s just Dmitry Rogozin. He spouts off every now and then. But at the end of the day, he’s worked with us.”
Mr. Nelson told the Associated Press on Friday that “The other people that work in the Russian civilian space program, they’re professional, they don’t miss a beat with us, American astronauts and American mission control. Despite all of that, up in space, we can have a cooperation with our Russian friends, our colleagues.”
In Contrast, Mr. Musk tweeted only an image of SpaceX after Mr. Rogozin warned that sanctions imposed on Russia may damage collaboration on the International Space Station (ISS) and wondered who would defend the ISS from an “uncontrolled deorbit” if Roscosmos were to pull out. Not only this, Mr. Musk had challenged President Putin to one-on-one combat to end the conflict in Ukraine. “I hereby challenge Vladimir Putin to single combat. Stakes are Ukraine,” he had tweeted.
NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei, who broke the United States’ single-spaceflight record of 340 days on Tuesday, is scheduled to leave the space station on March 30 alongside two Russians aboard a Soyuz capsule for a landing in Kazakhstan.