Some netizens saw a political message in the yellow and blue outfits worn by three Russian cosmonauts on Friday as they arrived on the International Space Station.
Question asked by Denis on March 19, 2022,
Hello,
You are asking us about the color of the suits worn by three Russian cosmonauts when they arrived on the International Space Station (ISS) on Friday March 18. A particularly scrutinized event, since it was the first newcomers to the ISS since the start of the Russian offensive in Ukraine. A detail quickly attracted the attention of the media and Internet users: the three men wore entirely yellow outfits and dotted with touches of blue. Two colors evoking the flag of Ukraine.
The interpretations therefore went well. Between, on the one hand, Internet users who believe that it was a way of challenging Russian power by taking the side of Ukraine. And on the other hand, those who argue on the contrary that the Russian space authorities have, by this choice of combinations, wanted to provoke the West by celebrating in advance the expected victory in Ukraine.
As for the media, many around the world wrote in their titles that “Russian cosmonauts [sont arrivés] to the ISS wearing the colors of the Ukrainian flag”. Like the British The Times and The Guardianor in Brazil O Globothe largest daily in Rio.
‘No connection with Ukraine’
Oleg Artemyev, Denis Matveyev and Sergey Korsakov, the cosmonauts sent to the ISS by the Russian space company Roscosmos, took off on Friday evening in a Soyuz rocket. Then docked at the station after a little over three hours of flight, thus joining the two Russians, the four Americans and the German already present. As soon as they arrived, the three men were able to join their families back on Earth, and Oleg Artemyev was then questioned about the choice of combinations, reports the American press agency AP. Recalling that each crew chooses their own, he said: “It was our turn to choose a color. But, in fact, we had accumulated a lot of yellow material, so we had to use it. That’s why we had to wear yellow.”
Another hypothesis, put forward in particular by the American scientist Jonathan McDowell, who closely follows space missions within the Harvard Astrophysics Center: that of a tribute in the colors of the Muscovite Bauman University, which the three cosmonauts attended.
It is actually plausible that the ‘Ukrainian’ color flight suits are in fact “Bauman University” color suits. They made a big deal of this being the first all-Bauman crew. (BMGTU is sort of Moscow’s MIT AeroAstro and many Russian astronauts are graduates) https://t.co/9yPLgwtYHv
—Jonathan McDowell (@planet4589) March 18, 2022
This is also what Oleg Artemyev suggested, in a message relayed on Telegram by Roscosmos, Saturday afternoon. The cosmonaut declares: “As our mission is closely connected with the Moscow State Technical University-Bauman, we decided to take the color scheme of our home university.”
“Do not search our attire for secret signs and symbols. Color is just color. She has no connection with Ukraine. Otherwise, you will have to acknowledge his ownership of the yellow of the Sun and the blue of the sky. These days, even though we’re in space, we stand with our president and our people.”added Oleg Artemyev.
Outfits chosen several months in advance
In the same message broadcast by Roscosmos, the cosmonaut assures that “Clothes for each member of the Soyuz spacecraft crews are sewn individually, about six months before the flight at the Institute of Biomedical Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences [partenaire de l’Agence spatiale russe, ndlr]». So before the war in Ukraine, which started at the end of February.
Abroad, other space agencies also make sure to anticipate the time required to manufacture astronaut outfits. This is confirmed by a tweet published a few hours after the arrival of the Russians, by retired Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, who commanded the International Space Station for a few months in 2012 and 2013. “Personally, we choose our flight suit colors months in advance, so they can be manufactured and packaged in time for launch. So I guess the blue and yellow weren’t meant to send a political message, but I like the idea that they are.”he wrote.
Colors already worn by the Russians
Finally, as a journalist from the New York Times, “The outfits worn daily by astronauts in orbit tend to be understated. But recent Russian crews have wore bright flight suits in different colors upon arrival, including Yulia Peresild, an actress who arrived at the station in November in a bright red jumpsuit.”
Moreover, Oleg Artemyev himself claimed to have worn, during his previous flights, “yellow, white and blue jumpsuits”, still in the comments reported by Roscomos. On Twitter, Internet users and journalists have spotted, citing articles posted by media several years ago, old photos of Artemyev wearing a yellow jumpsuit similar to that of the Friday flight. “The story of the three Russian cosmonauts boarding the ISS in yellow suits is probably just a coincidence”concludes the BBC reporter disinformation specialist Shayan Sardarizadeh.
We find some of these pictures on the cosmonaut’s Instagram account. Publications dating back to June 2015, or August 2014.