There have been a lot of people protesting the war in Russia, and in a time where such protest can you locked up–facing a lot of punishment–that’s a brave thing to do. They’ve been protesting since the first day of the invasion.
But perhaps it’s even more dangerous an effort to protest when you have a very high-profile position. It’s hard to think of people with a “higher” position than cosmonauts being sent into space, to the International Space Station.
On Saturday, the Station was visited by three Russian astronauts. This is the first Russian team to go into space since Russia’s war against Ukraine. But when video and pictures of their arrival were shown, they were wearing yellow flight suits with blue on them — the colors of Ukraine.
Russian cosmonauts OlegArtev, Denis Matveev and Sergey Korsakov entered the International Space Station for their six-and half-month expedition.
Their arrival temporarily raises the station’s crew complement to 10.https://t.co/GAptC5htE9 pic.twitter.com/wBJpOQAaf5
— Spaceflight Now (@SpaceflightNow) March 18, 2022
It was great to witness such a welcoming gesture from the crew of the ISS. #SoyuzMS21Their suits are beautiful!💛💙 pic.twitter.com/BB9ss1Ittn
— Katya Pavlushchenko (@katlinegrey) March 18, 2022
The Times
Oleg Artemyev, Denis Matveev, Sergey Korsakov and Sergey Korsakov left Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, yesterday for a six month stay aboard the orbiting laboratory. They joined the crew consisting of four Americans, one German, two Russians and four Americans.
After docking with space station Soyuz, three astronauts arrived in a remarkable move. They wore bright yellow jumpsuits and blue stripes instead of their standard blue uniforms. [….]
The colour scheme and its dramatic divergence from usual dress codes drew gasps from Nasa officials and members of Nasa’s astronaut corps. “Wow. Just wow,” said Terry Virts, a former US commander of the ISS.
When asked about their suits, they replied that the crew gets to choose which style. Artemyev said that the crew gets to pick its style of flight suit, “It became our turn to pick a color. But in fact, we had accumulated a lot of yellow material so we needed to use it,” he joked. “So that’s why we had to wear yellow.”
On the way up, they were dressed in blue suits and then changed to these clothes for arrival cameras. Do you think it was a protest? If there was another reason, it’s being interpreted as a protest of the Russian action. So, add that to one more thing that Vladimir Putin isn’t going to like when he hears about it. The Defense Ministry’s Twitter account was mocked earlier for posting a clip of a Russian helicopter landing on its own after being shot.
On March 30, the two Russians on board the International Space Station, along with one American, Mark Vande Hei will return to Earth. Dimitry Rogozin suggested they may leave Vande Hei behind. NASA however stated that they are guaranteed his safety, and that even if they did, there would be other plans for getting him back.
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