“Everything is fine on board, and the group is doing great,” a Russian floor controller mentioned on NASA tv by means of an interpreter shortly after liftoff.
The launch comes as tensions proceed to mount between the United States and Russia over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The United States has imposed heavy sanctions on Russia, and President Biden has labeled Russian President Vladimir Putin a “war criminal.” Dmitry Rogozin, the pinnacle of Roscosmos, the Russian space company, has mentioned that as a result of Russia is chargeable for boosting the station, it might drive it to come crashing down and has threatened to think about dissolving the partnership.
NASA leaders have regularly mentioned that the United States stays dedicated to the partnership and that space stays an space the place the 2 international locations can cooperate.
Russian’s bloody invasion of Ukraine “hasn’t thrown it into question at all,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson mentioned on CNBC Friday. “The cosmonauts and the astronauts are getting along as usual.”
He mentioned the Soyuz launch Friday demonstrates “that the Russians are still committed to the International Space Station.”
On March 30, NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei, who has set the longest single spaceflight document for an American, is scheduled to fly again to Earth on a Russian spacecraft alongside two cosmonauts.