Russia sent three cosmonauts to the International Space Station (ISS) in the middle of a war with Ukraine. Oleg Artemyev, Denis Matveev and Sergey Korsakov departed from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan aboard the Soyuz MS-21 spacecraft.
After three hours of travel, the spacecraft coupled in the Prichal module, the node developed by Roscosmos that allows Soyuz and Progress ships to dock on the ISS. cosmonauts will join the Expedition 66 crew and will remain at the station until September.
The arrival occurs a few days after the departure of Anton Shkaplerov, Pyotr Dubrov and Mark Vande Hei. The latter was the subject of a controversy in which it was claimed that Roscosmos planned to abandon it in space. In the end it was all a bad joke from the RIA Novosty chain.
Vande Hei and company have scheduled return to Earth on March 30. Later Matthias Maurer, Raja Chari, Thomas Mashburn and Kayla Barron will leave the International Space Station in April.
The first all-Russian crewed launch to occur since 2000
Oleg Artemyev will become the commander of Expedition 67 and will receive four NASA and ESA astronauts who will reach space powered by a SpaceX rocket.
The launch is important not only because it takes place in the context of a war that threatens Russia’s space program, but also because it is the first time that three Russian cosmonauts have flown together to the International Space Station.
“For the first time in many years, a completely Russian crew. And all of them are graduates of Moscow State Technical University,” commented Dimitry Rogozin, director of Roscosmos.
The last time something similar happened was in 2000, when Sergei Zalyotin and Aleksandr Kaleri made the last trip to the Mir Space Station before it deorbited.
Space travel keeps Russia and the United States united
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson commented in an interview with CNBC that collaboration between the United States and Russia is not in doubt. “Cosmonauts and astronauts get along as usual,” said Nelson, who says today’s launch marks a significant event.
The head of the space agency said that, unlike what happens in the military field, cooperation between the two countries continues and hopes that it will continue to do so. Nelson confirmed that Russia remains committed to the International Space Station.
In contrast to NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) canceled the ExoMars mission that would take the first European rover to Mars. The tensions between ESA and Roscosmos arose after the economic sanctions on Russia, derived from the war in Ukraine.
Like ESA, the Swedish Space Agency is looking for alternatives to its cooperation with Russia. the nordic country will not use Soyuz rockets to launch its MATS satellite, designed to investigate atmospheric waves and noctilucent clouds, into orbit.
The original plan called for its launch from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in late 2022, however, the war in Ukraine changed everything. Dimitry Rogozin complained about the decision, although it was Roscosmos that caused everything by denying the use of its rockets to other European countries.