After a Russian space agency leader jokingly threatened the American astronaut, NASA announced astronaut Mark Vande Hei would return from the International Space Station (ISS) onboard a Russian Soyuz ship as scheduled.
It came after headlines misquoted Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin's threat to keep Vande Hei aboard the ISS rather than allow him to return to Earth aboard a Russian ship.
Vande Hei, who was sent to the ISS in April of last year, will arrive onboard the Soyuz spacecraft in Kazakhstan on Mar. 30 and fly back to the United States on a Gulfstream aircraft, as is traditional for NASA astronauts.
NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei rests in a chair after landing in a remote area outside the town of Dzhezkazgan (Zhezkazgan), Kazakhstan, on February 28, 2018. Two NASA astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut returned to Earth on February 28, 2018, rounding off a mission of more than five months aboard the International Space Station. Alexander Misurkin of Russia's Roscosmos space agency and NASA's Mark Vande Hei and Joe Acaba touched down on steppe land southeast of the town of Dzhezkazgan in central Kazakhstan at the expected time of 0231 GMT.
NASA Assures Vande Hei Is Coming Home Via Russian Soyuz
Joel Montalbano, NASA's International Space Station Manager, addressed the situation for the media. According to Space.com, he said: "I can tell you for sure: Mark is coming home on that Soyuz." Montalbano also stated that they are in constant contact with their Russian counterparts.
Furthermore, Montalbano addressed the problem, indicating that both teams were aware of the situation. Despite the current strain, both teams can continue working to keep operations running.
He also indicated that the invasion had no detrimental effect on the seven astronauts stationed on the space station: four Americans, two Russians, and one German.
According to Montalbano, the ISS space crews continue to work above. Beyond all of this, there are no actual disagreements among the crew members. Their education has equipped them for a certain task, and they are now executing it.
Russian Space Agency Head Didn't Threaten to Leave Vande Hei in ISS
Meanwhile, Ars Technica reported that the threat made by Russia's Space Agency to leave American astronaut Mark Vande Hei is untrue.
According to many news reports collated by Live Science, the chief of Russia's space agency Dmitry Rogozin allegedly threatened to abandon Vande Hei on the ISS.
The assertion is based on a video posted on Feb. 26 and published by RIA Novosti, a Kremlin-affiliated media.
According to Ars Technica, Roscosmos TV, the Russian Federal Space Agency's television station, contributed footage for the film but stated it was a "joke."
In addition to stranding Vande Hei, the same video playfully argues that Russia may go so far as to disconnect its piece of the ISS from the American side of the space station.
A NASA representative told The StarTribune on Mar. 11: "On Mar. 30, a Soyuz spacecraft will return as scheduled carrying NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei and cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anton Shkaplerov back to Earth."
Even if Rogozin's threat to keep Vande Hei on the station was true - which it isn't - Ars Technica noted that American astronauts Raja Chari, Kayla Barron, and Thomas Marshburn, as well as German astronaut Matthias Maurer, are all on board. Vande Hei would, in any event, be able to grab another flight back to Earth.
RELATED ARTICLE: Ex-NASA Astronaut Scott Kelly Tells Roscosmos Head Dmitry Rogozin to Find McDonald's Job in Twitter Fight
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