Latest news with #TerryVirts
American Military News
a day ago
- Politics
- American Military News
ISS missions with Russia are like working with Nazis, says former US astronaut
This article was originally published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and is reprinted with permission. A retired US astronaut has told RFE/RL that joint missions with Russia on the International Space Station (ISS) should be scaled back, comparing them to collaboration with Nazi Germany at the height of World War II. 'Cooperating with the Russians on the ISS is like going on an Antarctic expedition with Nazis in 1943,' said Terry Virts, a former commander on the station. 'It's just morally reprehensible,' he added. Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the ISS is one of the rare areas where cooperation between Russia and the West has continued. Astronauts from both NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) serve alongside cosmonauts from Russian space agency Roscosmos. Canada and Japan are also involved in what NASA describes 'as one of the most complex international collaborations ever attempted.' 'The station was designed to be interdependent and relies on contributions from across the partnership to function,' NASA says. 'No one partner currently has the capability to function without the other.' Virts does not dispute this but calls for cooperation with Russia to be curtailed. Specifically, he said there are two areas where this would be possible and desirable. Soyuz Versus SpaceX 'We need to stop launching Americans on the Russian Soyuz,' he said, and 'we shouldn't be launching Russian cosmonauts on our rocket while they're actively destroying our friend and ally, Ukraine.' At present, the business of getting people to and from the ISS is shared. Crews and cargo have been ferried back and forth by Soyuz, SpaceX, and recently also Boeing's new Starliner capsule. 'You still need to operate the space station and you can do that…. It's only going to be in service for another few years,' Virts said. 'But I think we should pull back, to say the least.' In a statement provided to RFE/RL, NASA said it flew 'integrated crews' with Roscosmos 'aboard U.S. crew spacecraft and the Soyuz spacecraft to ensure continued safe operations' of the ISS and its crew. For Virts, this is a deeply personal issue. His career has been intimately bound up with the ISS. His maiden voyage as a Space Shuttle pilot in 2010 carried the ISS's final permanent modules, including the largest set of windows ever flown in space. On board the ISS four years later, he witnessed rocket fire in eastern Ukraine as Russian-backed separatists launched an insurgency there. This followed Russian troops seizing Crimea from Ukraine, and Virts says he was shocked by a cosmonaut's response. 'The commander of my Soyuz, Anton Shkaplerov, is from Sevastopol in Crimea. His wife is Ukrainian. And he was like, 'Krym nash, Krym nash,' which means 'Crimea is ours.' He was just so proud that they had taken back Crimea,' Virts said. But later, Virts was more concerned by three other cosmonauts he had flown with — Aleksander Samokutyaev, Maksim Surayev, and Yelena Surova — who all went on to serve as lawmakers in President Vladimir Putin's United Russia party. 'I Felt Betrayed' 'You know, I loved the Russian language and the people and the food. I thought the space station can be this great cooperation instead of conflict. And here they are supporting the most evil, blatantly morally abhorrent war. And that was very painful. I felt betrayed,' he said. Samokutyaev is still serving in Russia's State Duma (parliament) and has been sanctioned by Britain, the European Union, and the United States. The EU sanctions were announced the day after the full-scale invasion, as Samokutyaev had voted to recognize Russian-backed separatist entities in Ukraine as independent states. This was a key move that created the Kremlin's legal pretext for the invasion. The US Treasury said he and other Duma members were sanctioned 'for complicity in Putin's war' due to the vote. Surayev and Surova are no longer in the Duma but have continued to agitate on behalf of Putin and his aggression in Ukraine. For instance, Surayev was a surrogate for Putin in his 2024 election campaign. He can be seen in this video in 2024 in Russian-occupied Donetsk. He was reported by Russian media to have spoken during his visit of the role played by cosmonauts in the 'special military operation,' the Kremlin's preferred term for the full-scale invasion. Surova is now an adviser to the Moscow regional governor. On March 8, Russian media reported she was ceremonially sending off 'aid' to frontline troops in Ukraine, including drones. 'Many committed citizens are helping our defenders by sending vital supplies to the front. Together, we are the only team, a mighty fist, that nobody can defeat,' she reportedly said. A Myth 'Dispelled' None of these former cosmonauts immediately responded to questions from RFE/RL, including how support for Putin and the war in Ukraine aligns with the humanitarian principles of international cooperation in space. Virts said they're not speaking to him, either. 'My Ukrainian friends love me. My Russian friends have stopped talking to me,' he said. There is also controversy surrounding a cosmonaut on the current ISS crew. Alexey Zubritsky was born in Ukraine in 1992 and last month RFE/RL's Current Time reported that he was wanted in the land of his birth for treason. In 2014, Zubritsky was a Ukrainian Air Force pilot stationed in Crimea. When Russian troops arrived, he disobeyed orders to report to a Ukrainian base outside the peninsula, opting instead to stay there and switch sides. The ISS is due to remain in operation until 2030. Shortly after Russian tanks rolled over the Ukrainian border in 2022, Moscow threatened to withdraw from cooperation on the ISS but later said it would remain involved until 2028. 'We have cooperated very well on the space station. We've made a lot of relationships,' said Virts. 'I was on the side of, well, cooperation in space can help things be better on Earth. And man, that myth has been dispelled.'
Sky News
18-03-2025
- Science
- Sky News
Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore latest: Astronauts returning to Earth after nine months stuck in space
21:16:21 Deorbit burn has started It's expected to take seven minutes - with four thrusters at the top of the capsule firing. The capsule has not yet re-entered the Earth's atmosphere. This burn is to make sure the capsule lands where NASA and SpaceX want it to - off the coast of Florida. The Dragon capsule is "flying itself", SpaceX say, with Crew 9 not having to do anything. 21:14:21 How long will it take to collect the astronauts from the water off Florida? As we explained earlier, it's going to be around 10pm UK time - 9.57pm exactly - when the Dragon capsule splashes into the sea off of Florida. The presenters of the NASA/SpaceX coverage have just explained it could take an hour to retrieve the astronauts from the capsule in the water later. 21:10:18 Deorbit under way - and 'trunk jettisoned' from Dragon capsule The spacecraft bringing Crew 9 back to Earth has begun the process of deorbit, which we touched on in our last post. A "trunk" - used to generate solar power while in space - has been separated from the capsule and jettisoned. This exposes the heat shield, ready for re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere. The trunk is no longer needed for power as the craft heads back to Earth. 21:02:13 Inside Dragon Freedom Here's a snapshot inside the Dragon Freedom spacecraft. We're about five minutes away from the "deorbit" procedure - the process of deliberately lowering the craft's orbit height, so it starts to re-enter the atmosphere. You can watch along at the top of this page. We'll also bring you updates as we get them. 20:56:01 Will the stranded astronauts have been paid overtime during their unexpected long stay in space? We're all wondering how the astronauts might feel on their return to Earth - but will they be any better off than they were expecting to be? On the first question, former astronaut Terry Virts said in an interview today the two "overwhelming sensations" on returning to Earth are feeling heavy and dizziness. Virts once served with Barry Wilmore and the pair did spacewalks on a previous mission to space. "You just feel really, really, really heavy. I felt like my helmet weighed 500lbs," he told BBC Radio 5 Live. On the dizziness, he added: "Your brain is going 'what just happened'. There used to be gravity, then there wasn't gravity for six months, now all of a sudden there's gravity." 'It will just be part of their standard pay' Astronomer Jennifer Miller also spoke to the station and answered a burning question from a listener - whether or not astronauts get overtime pay. "It will just be part of their standard pay," Miller explained. "When you're testing out these new capsules, although the plan is to just be up there for eight days, 10 days, a fortnight, something like that, it's not guaranteed because it's a test - you don't know how it's going to go. "It is all just part and parcel of the job. "They're not coming back to any big compensation payout or anything like that." I guess spending time in space - and having an unbeatable anecdote - is enough of a perk for Wilmore and Williams... 20:46:03 Watch: Moment trapped astronauts finally leave space station for home Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams finally left the International Space Station to return home last night. A SpaceX capsule had transported four astronauts to the International Space Station on Sunday in a NASA crew-swap. Watch footage from the departure from the ISS below: 20:35:22 Why were the astronauts stranded in space? Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams blasted off to the ISS on 5 June, and were meant to be up there for just eight days. They were testing out Boeing's long-awaited Starliner, a ship designed to rival SpaceX's Crew Dragon that is currently used to ferry astronauts into space. But by the time they docked at the ISS, the Starliner had suffered major problems - with five helium leaks, five dead manoeuvring thrusters and a propellant valve that failed to close completely. It returned to Earth without them, after it was decided the astronauts would be safer waiting in orbit. Since then, the two US Navy veterans have completed spacewalks, experiments and even helped sort out the plumbing onboard. The astronauts have repeatedly said they have enjoyed the mission, with Williams describing the space station as her "happy place". "Every day is interesting because we're up in space and it's a lot of fun," she said earlier this month, although she added the waiting was likely hard for family members on the ground. The SpaceX vehicle taking them home arrived at the space station in September, carrying NASA's Nick Hague and cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, along with two empty seats. Wilmore and Williams then stuck around so that the other two astronauts could complete their mission, although their return was once more delayed because of problems with the SpaceX rocket that was going to bring them back. 20:31:33 Good evening Hello and welcome to our live coverage, as we await the return of two NASA astronauts who have been stuck on the International Space Station for nine months. Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are set to splash down off the coast of Florida shortly before 10pm UK time - it's scheduled for 9.57pm, to be exact. It will follow a 17-hour trip after a replacement crew arrived on the space station on Saturday night. We'll be bringing you live updates on their long-awaited return. Stay tuned.
Yahoo
15-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
‘Can be pretty depressing': Formerly stuck astronaut on how he persevered
(NewsNation) — An astronaut who was formerly stuck in space for a month revealed how he managed to stay positive amid uncertainty. 'I looked at it like 'I've got the rest of my life on earth, I'm going to make the most of my time in space,'' Terry Virts said on NewsNation's 'Morning in America with Hena Doba.' Virts said without that mantra, things could have become 'pretty depressing.' The replacements for NASA's two stuck astronauts launched to the International Space Station on Friday night, paving the way for the pair's return after nine long months. Monster storm across the US sparks threat of tornadoes and fire, killing at least 17 Virts commended crews on the ground for keeping supplies flowing to the astronauts. 'Those types of little logistics, things that you wouldn't think about. NASA did great,' said Virts. 'They got the things that they needed. One of the biggest things: you have to have exercise shoes and that's super important because you have to exercise. Because if you don't, your bones and your muscles start to deteriorate.' Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams need SpaceX to get this relief team to the space station before they can check out. Arrival is set for late Saturday night. The duo will be escorted back by astronauts who flew up on a rescue mission on SpaceX last September alongside two empty seats reserved for Wilmore and Williams on the return leg. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
