There are just a few hours left for the change of command on the International Space Station (ISS): on Tuesday 3 May evening the American astronaut Thomas Mashburn of NASA will leave the baton to the Russian Oleg Artemyev of Roscosmos, the same cosmonaut who a few days ago exhibited the Banner in space of Victory symbol of the victory of the Soviet Union over Nazi Germany. The handover ceremony, scheduled for 8.45 pm (Italian time), will be broadcast live as always and will officially kick off five months of Russian command, at a time of very high tension in relations on Earth between the United States and Russia. after the invasion of Ukraine.
Transfer of deliveries to be “weighed”
The space collaboration has so far resisted every international crisis, and even the change in command of the orbiting station shows that everything on board is proceeding as usual, despite the head of the Russian space agency Dmitry Rogozin has declared in recent days his intention to leave the ISS due to the sanctions, guaranteeing one year’s notice to international partners. Also for this reason, during the ceremony every word, every gesture will have a particular weight. All the crew will participate, including astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti of the European Space Agency (ESA), who arrived on board with the Crew-4 last April 28. During its first video link from orbit – answering questions from the presidents of space agencies in Europe, Italy and Germany – AstroSamantha stressed the normality of on-board relationships.
AstroSamantha: “I feel at home here”
“Here I feel like in my second home, welcomed warmly by the fantastic crew on board: those of the Crew-3, the Russian colleagues of the Soyuz and of course my colleague from Esa Matthias,” he said speaking alongside the German astronaut. Matthias Maurer. AstroSamantha added that this time, adapting to microgravity was quicker and easier than on his first mission, and said he was working a lot with fellow Crew-3, nearing departure, to gather all their suggestions. “I found a complex environment,” he said, referring to the work on the Space Station. Compared to his first Futura mission seven years ago, the astronaut noted that “the activities on board have grown a lot and the crew-3 colleagues have been incredibly generous and patient” in passing on their know-how.
The space to reflect on the Earth
“I am very happy to see Samantha here in space to take the European leadership,” added Maurer. She as soon as she got on board she «she was as if she had never left the Space Station. I am convinced that you will continue all the exceptional work that was prepared on the ground by the scientists and sent here “: you have an” excellent level of preparation, you will have no problems in the coming months to carry out all the experiments “. The German astronaut, about to pack his bags to return to Earth in the coming days with the Crew-3 (“it will depend on the weather, we could leave tomorrow or the day after or in a week”), finally expressed the desire that the example of the Space Station, “a symbol of peaceful international cooperation”, leads the leaders of the Earth to reflect so that “our beautiful Planet will once again be a peaceful place where people cooperate for the good of humanity”.