A NASA astronaut who recently returned to Earth after a long stay aboard the ISS has suggested that tensions have been growing at the research station between Russian cosmonauts and American astronauts. Although the Russian invasion of Ukraine has aggravated relations between NATO and the Kremlin, the ISS has been largely conflict-free, with some strange exceptions.
NASA and Roscosmos crew members even appeared to be friends with each other, when last month NASA astronaut Thomas Marshburn handed over the metaphorical (and ceremonial) keys of the ISS to Russian cosmonauts, while they were coming down to Earth.
Marshburn said during a webcast: “I think the lasting legacy of the space station is very likely to be international cooperation and a place of peace.
Meanwhile, cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev responded in English, saying, “Thank you for the key and thank you for the friendship.”
However, it seems that things were not always so cordial at the research station, according to astronaut Mark Vande Hei.
Vande Hei recently returned from the ISS after spending a record 355 days aboard the advanced orbital site and spoke to the Washington Post about his experience.
The astronaut noted that at some point, “making holes” in the “logic” of cosmonauts, suggesting that space men in both countries would sometimes disagree on certain issues.
However, he also admitted that he was forced to acknowledge the misrepresentation of the American culture of the Russian people, especially in cinema.
These moments came especially during the weekly movie night aboard the ISS, where astronauts from the two camps sat together to enjoy the movies.
READ MORE: Elon Musk fears he could “die mysteriously” after helping Ukraine
However, Hollywood stereotypes about the Russians made the ritual uncomfortable.
Vande Hei said: “At one point I realized that all the bad guys were Russian.
“It bothers me to think about it because at one point I looked at my fellow astronauts and said, ‘How do you do that?
“And they said, ‘It’s a little scary when we see that everyone in the United States, the mass media in the United States, portrays the Russians as the bad guys.'”
He added that the crew adapted to these difficulties by adopting a strategy in which “everyone had the turn to choose a film that they had seen and wanted to share with everyone else.”
The NASA astronaut also noted that the movie nights were on a “previous flight,” suggesting that NASA and Roscosmos space travelers are no longer watching movies together.
Vande was previously at the center of tensions between the US and Russia in space after a Russian official threatened to leave him in space.
In a terrifying video posted on social media, Dmitry Rogozin, the head of Roscosmos, questioned the astronaut’s safety.
However, Roscosmos later backed down, assuring NASA that they would keep their promise and let the astronaut board the Russian spacecraft.