NASA has confirmed the return of astronaut Mark Vande Hei (right) from the International Space Station along with two other Russian cosmonauts.
NASA has confirmed the return of astronaut Mark Vande Hei from the International Space Station along with two other Russian cosmonauts.
NASA's International Space Station manager confirms the return of American astronaut Mark Vande Hei.
The International Space Station is scheduled to return three astronauts on Earth; one is from NASA and two others are from Roscosmos. However, due to the heated tension between Russia and the U.S., the return of NASA's Mark Vande Hei was questionable.
NASA's Mark Vande Hei Return
NASA confirms the return of astronaut Mark Vande Hei aboard a Soyuz rocket along with two other Russian cosmonauts.
Currently, astronaut Mark Vande Hei is the world record holder for the longest space flight, and he is scheduled to return to Earth in just two weeks after spending 355 days in space.
NASA and Roscosmos were caught in between political tensions as U.S. sanctions continue to cripple Russia's strength. With that, worries began to spread, questioning if the sanctions imposed in Russia includes their space partnership.
Vande Hei's return could be postponed as a result of unprecedented sanctions imposed on the Russian Federation. When the aggression in Ukraine escalated, President Joe Biden addressed the media, stating that the United States would impose severe sanctions.
The concern of numerous citizens was also fueled by the threat of Roscosmos's Director General Dmitry Rogozin in a video that was posted on Twitter.
Rogozin threatened that he might leave NASA's astronaut Mark Vande Hei in space. Rogozin was confident in this threat as the three astronauts are going to board a Russian rocket back here on Earth from ISS.
International Space Station Statement
NASA's International Space Station Manager Joel Montalbano clarified the media and stated, "I can tell you for sure: Mark is coming home on that Soyuz" in a news conference today (March 14), ccording to Space.com.
Montalbano also added, "We are in communication with our Russian colleagues; there's no fuzz on that."
In addition, Montalbano addressed the issue stating that both teams are aware of what is going on around them. Despite the environmental tension, both teams are still able to carry on with work in order to maintain operations.
He also stated that the invasion has had no negative impact on the morale or professionalism of the seven astronauts who are currently stationed on the space station: four Americans, two Russians, and one German.
According to Montalbano, the space teams in the ISS continue to operate above and beyond all of this work, and there are really no conflicts between members of the team. Their training has prepared them for a specific job, and they are up there performing that job
NASA and Roscosmos
The return of NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei and cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anton Shkaplerov from the International Space Station on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft on March 30 has been a long-standing goal of the space agency.
Vande Hei, Dubrov, and Shkaplerov will make their way to Kazakhstan's steppes for the first time.
Vande Hei's physical condition will be assessed there by about 20 NASA employees, who will then transport him back to Houston, where NASA's human spaceflight program is based.
Vande Hei has been in microgravity for more than a year, which can be extremely taxing on the human body, and he will finally be reunited with his family.
