Scott Kelly is an outspoken man. The retired NASA Astronaut and US Navy captain, who once held the American record for the longest time spent in a single off-world orbit, takes a no-holds-barred approach to Twitter, where he's spent the last several months not only expressing his support for the people Kelly was able to challenge Neil DeGrasse Tyson's scientific concerns with "Top Gun: Maverick".
There is more to Kelly's support forUkraine than just getting into fights on social media. The spacefarer has put a decent amount of change towards Ukrainian defense efforts, and was recently named an ambassador for United 24, a wartime fundraising platform launched by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
We caught up with Kelly to find out if NASA asked him to shut up about Russia and what he missed most about Earth.
The interview has been edited to make it more clear.
Can you give us some information about United 24? How did you join?
It wasn't until I was asked to be a part of it that I realized that United 24 was a charity. I agreed to be an ambassador after United 24 reached out to me a few weeks ago. I'm in top shape.
It's important to me. I think it's important for everyone on the planet to believe in freedom and democracy. My brother in law is from Kharkiv and my Russian teacher at NASA is from the same city. I helped organize a rescue mission for her mother and sister who lived there until the war ended. Some of my Russian friends are on the side of the Ukrainians. It's not as bad as Ukrainians, but they're being affected as well. I believe in freedom and democracy even though I have personal connections. Russia can roll through a democratic country in Europe if we let them. We need to do everything we can to put an end to this as soon as possible, and we need to give whatever support we can.
I will use the money to provide medical supplies. I worked as a medical officer on my flights. When I was a child, I wanted to be a doctor. I was not a good student.
It's easy to support the Ukrainian people on social media. You locked horns with the former head of Roscosmos on the social networking site. What's the reason?
An American Crew member was left behind by the space agency in a video. I did it in a way that would get his attention because I was very rude to him in Russian. It worked. He is gone now. I don't want to take credit for being gone. He's no longer with us. The new guy might be a little bit more reasonable. I think he's keeping quiet because he hasn't said much about him.
You said previously that NASA had told you to tone down the Russia talk, but you've thrown a few elbows at Russia since you got that memo, has NASA doubled down on that request?
They never asked me not to say anything. The media misconstrued that. I was told that fighting with the head of Roscosmos made our job harder. I said that it was a blank receipt.
I took a break from Russia because these are my friends and colleagues, and their jobs are harder because of something I'm doing. I would speak up when I thought it was necessary. They just wanted me to understand their position better and not say anything.
You've supported Musk in the past, so it's no surprise that you're supporting him now that he's the owner of the social network. He surprised everybody about a month ago when he took to social media to call for Ukraine to give into certain Russian demands, and given his power and influence, how do you think he is doing that?
I believe that Elon is an incredibly gifted person. It's amazing that the company has done amazing things. He's an engineer and a tech guy.
He's the wealthiest man in the world and he has power. People will listen to what you have to say. I don't think it's anyone but the Ukrainians who have the final say on what happens. They need to make a decision. I don't think it's for me. I don't believe it is for the government. It's not for other people. I think we should support the Ukrainians if we believe in their democracy and their freedom. I would not agree with what he was saying. It is up to them to make that decision.
Do you think there's a clear path forward for the Russian military? There is a question about the future of the International Space Station.
We made a choice early on in the program that we put Russia on this critical path to operate the International Space Station. Control and attitude changes are provided by them. In a small way, the US can do that by using control moment gyros, but over time, you have to use thrusters to give back some of the energy that they need. Without that system the space station would be very difficult to operate. It could be possible. It's difficult to say, you know, we don't really know for certain.
I think we could figure it out if we had the time. Russia will not leave the space station on their own. I believe it will give Putin credibility with his people and countries around the world. If they're still cooperating with us in space, we can't be all that bad. It gives him some credibility at home. Russia is not going to leave the space station.
The future of the Russian space program is not looking good. Unless Putin leaves and we have a trustworthy international partner in Russia, I don't think the United States or Europe will ever work with Russia again. What is the purpose? Their future is very limited. They receive a lot of their money from international investment. They are not going to have that. I think there are things that Putin and Russia can do that will cause us to end the partnership. I don't know how that would evolve, but I think there are things that would cause us to kick them out.
The upcoming NASA moon missions are exciting to you.
It's really difficult to fly in space. Bad things can happen, but I'm pretty sure we'll have a successful flight. Next one will be with people near the moon. The plan is for that to happen after that. The 60s and 70s inspired people around the world to challenge themselves and do incredible things if they put their mind to it. Artemis is going to be a great example for the people in this century that we are not done doing challenging things, and it is worth every penny of the investment. It will be a new era in spaceflight, where we have regular flights to the surface of the Moon, to a smaller space station near the Moon, and eventually to Mars.
There could be a wave of kids who want to be astronauts after they grow up in a new era of exploration.
Kids won't become astronauts. Many of them are going to study harder in science and math. Other things that are important to our future will be done by those children. If that's the only thing we got out of these billions and billions of dollars of investment, to inspire kids, then so be it.
When you were in space, what was the most important thing you took for granted?
When you're in space, you realize how much our planet is appreciated. Everything about it is missing.
It's not until you're gone that you can truly appreciate it. You really appreciate what this planet means to us when you're in a space station for a long time.
Scott Kelly and the head of the Russian space program are bitter enemies.
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