Russian Flight Suits Wasn’t a Political Statement, NASA Astronaut


There were three Russian astronauts Not making a political statement when they board the International Space Station in mid-March He wears yellow flight suits with blue accents, which are the colors of the Ukrainian flag, according to a NASA astronaut who was on station to greet them.

“I think the people wearing them didn’t know that people would perceive that this had anything to do with Ukraine,” said NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei, who returned to Earth last week. “I think they’ve been a bit blind about it.”

At a press conference on Tuesday, Mr. Vande Hei said the colors are the colors of Bauman Moscow State Technical University, where all three of the newcomers attend.

Mr. Vande Hei and Russian astronaut Pyotr Dubrov spent 355 days in orbit. They and another Russian astronaut landed in Kazakhstan after a short trip to Earth in a Russian Soyuz capsule. While the relations between the USA and Russia deteriorated on the world surface after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the two countries continued to cooperate as usual. bring the astronauts home safely.

The American astronaut said he wasn’t paying attention to the quarrelsome posts on social media by the head of the Russian space program, Dmitry Rogozin, who shared a video suggesting that the Russians could leave Mr. Vande Hei stranded on the space station.

“To be honest, I heard the tweets from my wife,” Mr. Vande Hei said. “I never took these tweets as something to be taken seriously. I’ve relied too much on our collaboration to date to accept these tweets as something aimed at an audience different from my own. ”

He said that people at the station were talking about the Russian invasion of Ukraine. “It wasn’t something I avoided with my teammates,” he said. “It wasn’t very long discussions, but I asked them how they were feeling, and sometimes I asked meaningful questions.”

Mr. Vande Hei also said that he trusts his Russian colleagues. We supported each other in every way,” he said. “And I was never worried about my ability to continue working with them. Very good professionals, technically competent and great people.”

Mr. Vande Hei’s 355 consecutive days in space broke the record for the longest continuous stay in orbit by an American astronaut. Physically, he’s still getting used to gravity again. “I’m still sick,” he said. “But humans are very adaptable. And I think that’s a good sign.”

Mentally though, life is almost back to normal.

“I really thought I would continue with this unique perspective of appreciation for everything new about being on the planet,” said Mr. Vande Hei. “I was a little disappointed in how normal it felt. I wanted it to look weirder to come back.”



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