The Iss station will see two important personnel changes in March. The first time was on the 18th, when the Soyuz MS-21 spacecraft was scheduled to launch with 3 astronauts and dock with the International Space Station.
The second time was on the 30th, when soyuz MS-19 returned to Earth with three astronauts. The three astronauts were Anton Shkaplerov, Peter Dubrov and American astronaut Mark Van der Hey.
Among them, Peter Dubrov and Mark van der Hey were supposed to return to Earth last October, but at that time, in order to shoot a space movie, Russia sent actress Yulia Belehilde and director Klim Shipenko to the International Space Station, stayed on the International Space Station for 10 days, and then "snatched" the two of them of their spaceship tickets back to Earth, so that they could only postpone their return voyage until March this year.
It is said that during the filming of the film on the International Space Station, Peter Dubrov was very unhappy because he did not know that he was going to play a role in the film 10 minutes before filming, so much so that he complained:
"Why is there no mention in the telegram? I didn't know until 10 minutes before filming started. Where is the time to memorize lines? When are I ready for shooting? ”
But you can't blame the ground control center for this, after all, the filming plan of the film is controlled by the director.
Because the actress and director snatched the "ticket" of Peter Dubrov and American astronaut Mark Van der Hey, they both had to extend the mission for about 6 months to return with the Soyuz MS-19.
This is nothing for Peter Dubrov, but Mark van der Hey is more unlucky, because with the changes in the international situation, the cooperation between the two countries in the field of space has also been affected, and it is difficult to say whether he can still catch the "free ride" of the Russian spacecraft.
However, from the current situation, although the Russian side warns: if the Russian side withdraws from the International Space Station, the International Space Station will fall uncontrollably.
But in fact, there is no abnormal situation on the International Space Station, and the Russian astronauts trained in the United States have not been recalled, and the Russian side has not issued harsh words prohibiting European and American astronauts from taking the Soyuz spacecraft, so the possibility of Mark Van der Hey taking the Soyuz spacecraft still exists.
Closing the airspace to each other, how do U.S. astronauts go home?
We know that nowadays, many countries in Europe and the United States and Russia are closing their airspace to each other, especially Russian flights can hardly fly to many countries in Europe and the United States, and flights from many countries in Europe and the United States have to bypass the air over Russia.
Mark van der Hey is expected to return to the area on the Soyuz spacecraft, but the return site is not the United States, and after closing the airspace, how should American astronauts return home?
Most of the spaceship landing sites of many countries are in their own countries, such as: our two main landing fields, the Siziwangqi landing field and the Dongfeng landing field, are located in the mainland.
But the landing field of the Soyuz spacecraft is not in Russian territory, but in the southeast of Jezkazgan, Kazakhstan.
The landing site has welcomed many Soyuz spacecraft home in the past, and even actresses and directors who make films in space have landed here. The Soyuz MS-19 spacecraft is no exception.
Because the landing site is located in Kazakhstan, both American and Russian astronauts are customarily departing from Karaganda Airport in Kazakhstan. The United States can ship its own astronauts home from Karaganda Airport in Kazakhstan.
For now, because the Soyuz landed in Kazakhstan, it has avoided the embarrassing situation that American astronauts cannot fly home to a certain extent.
How do the other 7 astronauts on the International Space Station get home?
After the return of the Soyuz MS-19, there were still 7 astronauts on the International Space Station, including 3 American astronauts, 1 European astronaut and 3 Russian astronauts.
This time the American astronauts are taking the Russian Soyuz "free rider" to return, that with the change of the situation, how should these 7 astronauts return to the earth, especially 3 American astronauts and 1 European astronaut.
In fact, if it was two years earlier, the United States really had no way to bring its own astronauts back, because since 2011, the United States has not had a manned spacecraft for a long time to send astronauts to the International Space Station and pick up astronauts from the International Space Station, but has been renting tickets for the Soyuz spacecraft, which has spent more than $4 billion over the years.
As the Soyuz ticket rises, and in order to get rid of the dependence on the Soyuz spacecraft, the United States began to fund domestic space companies to develop manned spacecraft as early as 2014, of which Space X is one of them, and the company has transported astronauts to the International Space Station as early as 2020, and also returned astronauts from the International Space Station to Earth.
In fact, the other 3 American astronauts and 1 European astronaut on the International Space Station today enter the International Space Station on the American Dragon spacecraft, and after they complete their mission, they will also take the Dragon spacecraft back to Earth, and the return location is also their own choice.
The three Russian astronauts are even more worried, they will return to Earth in the Soyuz spacecraft.
Although the return of the 7 astronauts of the International Space Station to Earth is not a problem, there are still fears that the International Space Station will have problems due to changes in the relationship between countries, and even lead to early retirement.