While international conflict rages on the Earth below them, the Russians and Americans working together aboard the International Space Station have signaled that there is still peace.
CBS space reporter William Harwood said that the handover of command of the orbital lab to NASA's Thomas Marshburn was a sign of ongoing cooperation in space.
During the change-of-command ceremony, Shkaplerov did mention the Earthbound tensions caused by his country's invasion of Ukraine, but only briefly.
The interactions seemed to be genuine and friendly.
This poignant moment of international solidarity is not an unprecedented one.
In 1975, when Russia was still part of the Soviet Union and the International Space Station was still being used, a historic handshake between a cosmonaut and anastrologer heralded the beginning of cooperation between the two.
The partnership has been tested in recent weeks, but has so far remained intact. There is hope that the international team aboard the International Space Station may continue to be beacon of hope for the rest of us on Earth, despite the fact that the Russian invasion of Ukraine may end this cooperation that has lasted for more than four decades.
The International Space Station was shaped by Cold War politics.
More on the impact of the Ukrainian invasion on the International Space Station.
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