Russia sent three cosmonauts to the International Space Station (ISS) at war with Ukraine. Oleg Artemyev, Denis Matveev and Sergey Korsakov left the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan aboard the Soyuz MS-21 spacecraft.
After three hours of travel, the spacecraft docked in the Prichal module, the node developed by Roscosmos that allows Soyuz and Progress ships to dock with the ISS. cosmonauts will join the crew of Expedition 66 and will remain at the station until September.
The arrival comes a few days after the departure of Anton Shkaplerov, Pyotr Dubrov and Mark Vande Hei. The latter was the subject of controversy in which it was claimed that Roscosmos planned to abandon it in space. In the end, it was all just a bad joke from the RIA Novosty channel.
Vande Hei and company programmed 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 since 2000
Oleg Artemyev will become the commander of Expedition 67 and receive four NASA and ESA astronauts who will reach space powered by a SpaceX rocket.
The launch is significant not only because it takes place against the backdrop of a war that threatens the Russian 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, an all-Russian crew. And all of them graduated from Moscow State Technical University,” commented Dimitri Rogozine, 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 together
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson commented in an interview with CNBC that the collaboration between the United States and Russia is beyond doubt. “Cosmonauts and astronauts are getting along as usual,” said Nelson, who says today’s launch marks a significant event.
The head of the space agency said that, contrary to what happens in the military field, the cooperation between the two countries continues and hopes that it will continue. Nelson confirmed that Russia remains attached to the International Space Station.
Unlike NASA, the The European Space Agency (ESA) has canceled the ExoMars mission that would take Europe’s first rover to Mars. The tensions between ESA and Roscosmos arose after the economic sanctions against 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 study atmospheric waves and noctilucent clouds, into orbit.
The initial plan called for its launch from the Vostochny cosmodrome at the end of 2022, however, the war in Ukraine changed everything. Dimitri Rogozin complained about the decision, while it was Roscosmos that caused everything by refusing the use of its rockets to other European countries.
