The arrival of a trio of Russian astronauts on Friday at the International Space Station (ISS), dressed in yellow and blue suits, raised several questions regarding possible support for Ukraine, but the truth may be different.
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The use of these colors would thus correspond to those of the emblem of the Bauman Moscow State Technical University, from which the three astronauts are graduates.
In any case, this is the justification that the director of the Russian space agency Roscosmos tried to provide, according to CNN.
“Sometimes the color yellow is just the color yellow. […] Uniform design was coordinated long before current events. Seeing the Ukrainian flag everywhere and on everything is just a clinic [de propagande]“Wrote another Roscosmos official on his Telegram channel “Closed Space”, according to the American media.
Astronauts usually choose their flight uniforms several months in advance, which would therefore precede the Russian invasion of Ukraine just over three weeks ago.
“For Soyuz flights, typically, the crew meets with the company that makes the suits months before the flight and they are allowed two custom suits,” a NASA astronaut who flew in a NASA astronaut told CNN. Russian Soyuz spacecraft to the ISS.
“Usually one suit is the same for the whole crew and the second suit is something personal,” he added.
Asked regarding this, Russian commander Oleg Artemyey jokingly replied that they had a lot of yellow equipment. “So we had to use it. So that’s why we had to wear yellow.”
