Even in the weightlessness of space, the Ukraine war keeps the crew of the International Space Station in suspense. Russians and representatives of other nations work together there. “I’ll always be happy to be on the space station with them,” says an American astronaut about his Russian colleagues.
NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei and cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov (left to right) on March 30 after their return from the International Space Station.
(dpa) The war in Ukraine was also a topic of conversation on the International Space Station, according to American astronaut Mark Vande Hei, who has just returned from there. “For me personally, that was not an issue that I and my crew colleagues avoided,” said Vande Hei on Tuesday at a press conference of the American space agency Nasa. “There weren’t any long discussions, but I asked them how they were feeling and sometimes I asked detailed questions.” He himself found the news of the war “heartbreaking”.
But the focus has always been on working together. “My Russian crewmates were, are and will remain very close friends of mine. We have supported each other through it all and I have never had any doubts about my ability to continue working with them. Very good professionals, technically competent and wonderful people. I will always be happy to be on the space station with them.” Cooperation between Russia and the USA on the ISS is “very important for a peaceful future”.
Vande Hei returned to Earth last week in a Russian spacecraft after 355 days on board the ISS, together with cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrow. “It’s wonderful to be back,” said Vande Hei. “There are a few niggles and pains that I didn’t have before, but I get a lot of help to get better.” The American astronauts Thomas Marshburn, Raja Chari and Kayla Barron, the German astronaut Matthias Maurer and the three cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev, Denis Matveyev and Sergei Korsakov remained on the ISS.
The three cosmonauts arrived at the ISS in March wearing yellow overalls with blue patches, which many observers were reminded of the colors of the Ukrainian flag. But the colors are those of the university that all three cosmonauts attended, said Vande Hei. The Russian space agency Roskosmos had previously said so. “I think the people who wore them had no idea that it would be perceived as related to Ukraine,” said Vande Hei. “You were surprised by it.”