Three Russian cosmonauts arrived on Friday at the International Space Station wearing yellow flight suits with blue accents, which appeared to match the Ukrainian flag. The men were the space station’s first new arrivals since Russia’s war in Ukraine began last month.
At 8:55 p.m. Friday, Russian space corporation Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev, Denis Matveyev, and Sergey Korsakov successfully launched their Soyuz MS-21 spacecraft from the Russia-leased Baikonur launch facility in Kazakhstan (9:25 p.m. IST). They docked without incident a little more than three hours later, joining two Russians, four Americans, and a German on the orbiting outpost.
Russian cosmonaut’s dress code gives an unclear message
Mr. Artemyev was wearing a blue flight suit in a video taken as the spacecraft prepared to dock with the space station. It was unclear what message, if any, the yellow uniforms they wore were intended to convey. Mr. Artemyev was asked about the suits when the cosmonauts were able to communicate with family members on Earth. He stated that each crew selects their own.
“Now it was our turn to choose a color. However, we had accumulated a large amount of yellow material and needed to make use of it. That is why we were required to wear yellow,” he explained.
Since the war began, many people have displayed the Ukrainian flag and its colors to demonstrate their support for the country.
The war has resulted in the cancellation of spacecraft launches and contract violations. Dmitry Rogozin, head of Roscosmos, warned that the US would have to fly into space on “broomsticks” if Russia stopped supplying rocket engines to American companies. However, many fear that Mr. Rogozin is jeopardizing decades of peaceful off-planet cooperation, most notably at the space station.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson downplayed Mr. Rogozin’s remarks, telling The Associated Press: “That is simply Dmitry Rogozin.” He occasionally spouts off. However, he has collaborated with us.”
“The others who work in Russia’s civilian space program are professionals,” Mr. Nelson told the Associated Press on Friday. “They never miss a beat when it comes to us, American astronauts and mission control. Despite this, we can collaborate with our Russian friends and colleagues in space.”
NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei — who broke the United States’ single-spaceflight record of 340 days on Tuesday — is scheduled to depart the space station on March 30 with two Russians aboard a Soyuz capsule for a landing in Kazakhstan. In April, three additional NASA astronauts and one Italian astronaut are scheduled to launch for the space station.