For reasons that are well known, there has been unprecedented tension in U.S.-Russia relations, but this moment is not good news for American astronaut Mark Van der Black, who is still aboard the International Space Station. Why? Earlier, Mark van der Black had taken a Russian spacecraft to the International Space Station, and was supposed to return with a Russian spacecraft when he returned as planned. But now the "fierce war" between Russia and Ukraine is in full swing, and the United States, as the person behind Ukraine, has wielded an unprecedented "sanctions stick", which can be called a devastating "sanction", including the space program.
Faced with an sworn and threatening America, Mark Van der Black felt hopeless to return home, and his mother washed her face with tears and felt very scared, and her son had not returned home for 355 days. In view of the difficulty and time window of safe return to space, we believe that it is inappropriate to keep American astronauts in space, although our relations with the United States are currently in an extremely unfriendly and difficult stage of communication.
It can be seen that Russia is still relatively generous and patterned, and the accounting will not be calculated here. American astronaut Van der Black, with his hanging heart, finally let go, did not have to fly back with a broom, and with the consent of Russia, he could return to Earth with a Russian spacecraft. Some netizens sneered: It is really a high and low opinion, at this time the United States does not consider sanctioning Russian spacecraft? On the other hand, Russia, at a time of tension, has not yet raised the problems on the earth to the field of space, and the first consideration is still the safety of all members of the International Space Station, so that American astronaut Mark hitched a ride on the Soyuz.
So doesn't the United States have a spaceship of its own? As a world superpower, the United States is so mixed that even its own astronauts can't get back? Strictly speaking, the United States really can't get its own astronauts back now. Although the United States has the world's most advanced space shuttle, after the crash of the Space Shuttle Columbia, the United States no longer has its own means of delivery. Since then, it has been renting Russian spacecraft to transport Yu Hangyu to and from the space station, and over the years, the cost of "hitting the plane" has accumulated more than four billion US dollars. Until May 2020, with the financial support of super-rich Musk, the first manned space launch was successful, and the United States regained the ability to transport astronauts into space, but so far, it has only been launched twice.
So why not take Musk's spacecraft back to Earth? First of all, the spacecraft position is limited, and secondly, Mark has been working continuously for 355 days, and it is really impossible to return next time, after all, the space environment still has a great impact on physical health. However, allowing US astronauts to take the "downwind plane" is not without benefits for Russia, first of all, word of mouth, which fully demonstrates Russia's great power responsibility and humanitarian spirit. Secondly, you can put pressure on the United States, but Xiaobian believes that this is of little use to the United States. Third, of course, it is a considerable amount of "air ticket money" to alleviate a little bit of Russian economic pressure. This is all good for Russia.
(Text/Shi Tai)