The routine of the International Space Station (ISS), astronauts’ movements has been relegated to the most serious of causes: war. Russian aggression of Ukraine has brought back NASA and Roscosmos StateSpace Corporation, their Russian counterpart, to a situation that was typical of the space race during cold war. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has made collaborators into antagonists once again. This has caught the crew on the ISS in orbit. It is an orbital facility made with modules from around the world. They travel up and down in Russian ships. Today, American astronaut Mark Vande Hei returned to Earth in one. He has now surpassed the 355-day record of an American astronaut staying on the ISS. Dmitri Rogozin (director of Roscosmos), had threatened to abandon the station in orbit and ignore the maintenance of it to the point that it would fall. This was in response to the US’s position against Putin.
The ISS crew had already made clear that tensions between Russia and the US were not reaching its orbit. Anton Shkaplerov said, “Here, we are all a group.” He has taken command of the facility, and has returned to Earth with Vande Hei, another Russian cosmonaut, and Pyot Dumbrov. He has been the commander of the ISS since yesterday, where three Russians, three Americans, and one European are still present, Tom Marshburn from NASA.
Shkaplerov stated that people have problems on Earth at his farewell. “In orbit we are a crew and I see the ISS symbolically as a symbol for friendship, cooperation, and our future in space exploration. My crew, thank you so much. They are like my space sisters and brothers.”
After just over four hours of travel in Kazakhstan, the Soyuz that brought back Vande Hei and Shkaplerov has arrived at Spanish time at 1:28 p.m.
Marshburn stated that it was an honor to be given command of the space station. He also said that it was a privilege to continue the international partnership and the legacy in spaceflight. Marshburn thanked Shkaplerov, describing him as a “wonderful commander.”
Vande Hei, 55 years old, has completed his second and final mission to the ISS. He declared that he had promised his wife not to return to the space station. Vande Hei also set a record for American space endurance of 355 consecutive space days. NASA reports that Vande Hei orbited higher than the previous record of 340 days set in 2016 by Scott Kelly, an astronaut.
