SPACE – The three Russian cosmonauts, who took off this Friday March 18 aboard a rocket Soyuz for the International Space Station (ISS), have arrived safely. The three travelers were warmly welcomed by the occupants of the station, in a context of extreme tensions between Russia and the West linked to the war in Ukraine.
This crew, led by experienced cosmonaut Oleg Artemiev, accompanied by Denis Matveïev and Sergei Korsakov, took off at 4:55 p.m. (Paris time) for a three-hour flight to the ISS. The cosmonauts were greeted by a team of two Russians, four Americans and a German, according to images broadcast by NASA.
???? Science stronger than war: the three Russian cosmonauts Oleg Artemiev, Denis Matveïev and Sergei Korsakov welcomed aboard the ISS by four American astronauts, two Russians and a German. pic.twitter.com/chF1yaorVt
— Philippe Berry (@ptiberry) March 18, 2022
Friendly hugs, big smiles and warm handshakes were exchanged upon their arrival on site as soon as the airlock opened.
Russian cosmonauts in “Ukrainian yellow”
As pointed out by the specialized media Space.comthe outfit of these three Russian cosmonauts surprised many observers from the ground, since they were yellow and blue, the colors of the Ukrainian flag.
The media quotes a space exploration enthusiast who followed the hatch opening ceremony broadcast live on the internet by the Russian federal space agency Roscosmos. According to her, Artemyev, the Soyuz commander, was asked regarding the choice of colors for the suit and replied that it was simply the result of a surplus of yellow fabric in the warehouse.
They. We’re asked regarding the color of the suits, and Oleg answered, there was too much yellow fabric accumulated in the warehouse ???? Except that, just usual greetings and best wishes.
— Katya Pavlushchenko (@katlinegrey) March 18, 2022
“We asked regarding the color of the costumes, and Oleg replied that there was too much yellow fabric accumulated in the warehouse. Other than that, just the usual greetings and best wishes.”
Willingness to support or not, many Internet users still congratulated the three cosmonauts for their courage and their stand once morest the war. “A new crew of cosmonauts has just docked at the International Space Station dressed in yellow and blue. Beautiful to see,” tweeted astronaut Chris Hadfield, for example.
Three Russian cosmonauts just launched to the International Space Station on a Russian rocket, from Kazakhstan. The color scheme of their space attire as they came aboard the station is rather striking. pic.twitter.com/A3fA7SAlPV
— Eric Berger (@SciGuySpace) March 18, 2022
“Three Russian cosmonauts have just flown to the International Space Station aboard a Russian rocket from Kazakhstan. The color palette of their spacesuits when they arrive on board the station is quite striking,” writes space journalist Eric Berger.
Three Russian cosmonauts who have just docked at the International Space Station have arrived in Ukrainian yellow!
Three Russian cosmonauts who just docked with the ISS arrive in Ukrainian yellow! pic.twitter.com/mJGRKuzV5v
— Scott Kelly (@StationCDRKelly) March 18, 2022
“Three Russian cosmonauts who have just docked at the ISS arrive in Ukrainian yellow!” former NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, who served a year-long mission on the space station.
A fall of the ISS because of the sanctions once morest Russia?
Until recently, space cooperation between Russia and Western countries was one of the few areas not to have suffered too much from the sanctions decreed once morest Moscow following the 2014 annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea.
This weekend, the official had claimed that the recent Western sanctions introduced once morest Moscow might bring down the ISS. According to him, the functioning of the Russian vessels supplying the ISS will be disrupted by the sanctions, thus affecting the Russian segment of the station. As a result, it might cause the ISS weighing 500 tons to “ditch” or “land”,” he warned.
The thrusters of the Russian vessels docked at the station are indeed used to correct the orbit of the space structure. A procedure carried out ten times a year to keep it at the right altitude, or to avoid space debris in its path.
Americans alone do not have this capability, Joel Montalbano, the station’s program director for NASA, confirmed Monday. “The Space Station was designed on the principle of interdependence (…) it is not a process in which one group can become separated from the other.”
“Right now there is no indication that our Russian partners want to do things differently. So we plan to continue the operations like we do today,” he said.
Spatial tensions
Some tensions had already appeared, especially following Russian President Vladimir Putin appointed nationalist Dmitry Rogozin as head of the Russian space agency Roscosmos in 2018. The latter regularly shows his support for what Russia calls “a special military operation” in Ukraine.
“Ours! For the first time in many years, it’s an all-Russian crew,” he said on Twitter a few hours before the launch.
The latest hitch in space cooperation, the European Space Agency (ESA) announced Thursday that it has suspended the Russian-European ExoMars mission and is looking for alternatives for the launch of four other missions due to the offensive. in Ukraine. Dmitry Rogozin criticized “a very bitter event” and said that Russia might carry out this mission on its own, “in a few years”.
See also on The HuffPost: How War in Ukraine Threatens 2022 Space Projects
