spacetoday.net: Soyuz delivers Russian cosmonauts to ISS

Posted: Sat, Mar 26, 2022, 11:03 AM ET (1503 GMT)
A Soyuz spacecraft delivered three cosmonauts to the International Space Station whose attire raised eyebrows. A Soyuz rocket launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 11:55 am EST (1555 GMT) March 18 and placed the Soyuz MS-21 spacecraft into orbit. That spacecraft docked with the ISS a little more than three hours later. Onboard the Soyuz were Russian cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev, Denis Matveyev and Sergey Korsakov. The three cosmonauts entered the ISS wearing bright yellow flight suits with blue accents. The color scheme evoked comparisons to the flag of Ukraine and speculation that the cosmonauts wore the suits as a sign of protest of Russia's invasion. The colors, though, are also affiliated with Bauman Moscow State Technical University, which all three cosmonauts attended, and Artemyev wore a yellow flight suit while on the ISS in 2015. Roscosmos denied the flight suits had anything to do with Ukraine.