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Everyone was expectant before the arrival of the Russians Oleg Artemyev, Denis Matveev and Sergey Korsakov to the International Space Station (ISS), the first visit of new cosmonauts after the start of the war in Ukraine. Two and a half hours after launch, the Soyuz spacecraft docked with the ISS and the hatch opened, revealing the new inhabitants of the space facility. There was surprise: Artemyev, Matveev and Korsakov appeared with some bright yellow suits with blue stripesvery reminiscent of the colors of the Ukrainian flag.
When asked about the curious outfit, Commander Artemyev stated during a live connection that it was due to “a surplus of yellow fabric in the warehouse”, without giving more clues or positioning himself politically.
A reaction that contrasts with that of the head of the Russian space agency, Dimitri Rogozinwho heated things up by assuring on Twitter that the three cosmonauts traveled to the ISS “with a desire to fight.”
The State Commission at Baikonur approved the main and backup crews of the Soyuz MS-21 manned spacecraft. The boys are in a fighting mood. Start tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/bbs0e0SVAw
— ROGOZIN (@Rogozin) March 17, 2022
Reactions on social networks
The color of the suits has not gone unnoticed by Internet users, who have launched all series of conjectures. Most have understood it as a gesture of support for Ukraine, including former NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, who also had an inelegant ‘scuffle’ with Rogozin a few days ago. “Three Russian cosmonauts who have just docked with the ISS arrive dressed in Ukrainian yellow!” the pilot wrote.
Three Russian cosmonauts who have just docked at the International Space Station have arrived in Ukrainian yellow!
Three Russian cosmonauts who just docked with the ISS arrive in Ukrainian yellow! pic.twitter.com/mJGRKuzV5v
— Scott Kelly (@StationCDRKelly) March 18, 2022
Your partner at NASA, Terry Virts, also applauded the gesture of the cosmonauts: «Wow. just wow Well done, crew! », He wrote in English and Russian.
wow. Just wow. well done. For the crew! https://t.co/qwlZLRR3H0
— Terry Virts (@AstroTerry) March 18, 2022
However, this is not the only hypothesis surrounding space suits. Several people on Twitter have pointed out that the colors are similar to those of the Bauman Moscow State Technical University, which was attended by the three cosmonauts. At the moment, it is only speculation, since neither they (beyond the comment nor Russian officials have spoken about such a curious appearance.
Spatial tensions
Everything happens in a very tense environment after the person in charge of Roscosmos released other threatening messages, such as the uncontrolled fall of the ISS without the support of the Russians. “If cooperation between us is blocked, who will save the space station from an uncontrolled exit from orbit and a fall in the United States or … in Europe?”, he wrote on Twitter at the beginning of the conflict. Despite these statements, the official Russian position (confirmed by the European Space Agency and NASA itself) is that operations continue normally and that the conflict should not be felt on the international space station. For now, at least.
Where it has been noticed is in the European spaceport located in French Guiana, from where Putin has withdrawn all his personnel who operated the Soyuz ships. The decision motivated the ESA council meeting, which decided to end cooperation with Russia in the important ExoMars mission, the European attempt to put the first rover on the surface of Mars. Russia also broke relations with NASA in the Venera mission, a probe whose objective was to explore Venus.
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