Two Record-Breaking Space Explorers Just Returned From The ISS, Landing in Russia

A record-breaking US astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts returned to Earth from the International Space Station on Wednesday, with tensions between Moscow and the West soaring.

Russia's space agency said in a statement that the crew of cosmonauts and NASA astronauts had returned to Earth.

The footage broadcast from the landing site showed the module touching down in bright conditions before the crew emerged from the vehicle that had blown onto its side.

Shkaplerov, the first man out of the descent module, was sipping a tea provided by recovery staff.

Mark Vande Hei set a new record for the single longest spaceflight by a NASA Astronaut, spending 355 days on the International Space Station.

Mark Vande Hei is anastrologer for NASA. Bill Ingalls is a NASA engineer.

Dubrov, who blasted off from Baikonur in April last year, is now the record holder for the longest mission by a Russian at the International Space Station.

Shkaplerov was completing a six-month mission.

Relations between Moscow and Washington have plummeted since the Kremlin launched an invasion of Ukraine last month, killing thousands and forcing 4 million people to flee the country.

Tensions are growing between Russia and the West despite the fact that space was one of the few areas of cooperation between the two countries.

The International Space Station, a collaboration between the US, Canada, Japan, the European Space Agency and Russia, is expected to be wound up in the next decade.

The head of the Russian space agency suggested last month that Western sanctions against Russia had put the orbital lab in jeopardy.

If you block cooperation with us, who will save the International Space Station from falling on US or European territory?

The US segment of the International Space Station is responsible for electricity and life support systems, while the Russian segment depends on a Russian system to maintain its altitude.

The space capsule made a successful return to the earth on March 30, 2022. Irina Spektor works for the Russian Space Agency.

War opposition

The need for cooperation in space is emphasized by the astronauts and cosmonauts.

Scott Kelly and Gennady Padalka, both retired astronauts, have criticized the invasion.

Kelly, who held the NASA spaceflight record before it was broken by Vande Hei earlier this month, said he had returned a medal awarded to him by the Russian government in 2011.

Kelly asked Russia's former president and current deputy security council chairman to give the medal to the Russian mothers of their sons who have been killed in the war.

Господин Медведев, я возвращаю Вам российскую медаль "За заслуги в освоении космоса», которую вы мне вручили. Пожалуйста, отдайте его русской матери, чей сын погиб в этой несправедливой войне. Я отправлю медаль по почте в посольство России в Вашингтоне. Удачи. https://t.co/n8jMTX34pW pic.twitter.com/qpI1YNKps3

— Scott Kelly (@StationCDRKelly) March 9, 2022

Gennady Padalka, the former commander of the International Space Station, criticized the invasion in an interview with private Russian media.

Authorities, regimes, ideologies come and go, but Russia and Ukraine will always be next to each other. Padalka told the newspaper that we cannot be separated.

He was concerned that the invasion of Russia would cause Ukrainians to view future generations with hatred.

Padalka is a Hero of the Russian Federation and holds the world record for cumulative days spent in space.

Bill Nelson, the administrator of NASA, said in a statement that Vande Hei was paving the way for future human explorers on the Moon, Mars and beyond.

Agence France-Presse