Fri Mar 18, 2022, 10:27 PM

The 3 Russian astronauts who just reached the space station wore colors matching Ukraine's flag

I'm seeing lots of tweets about this. Here's one, from a WaPo editor:

Link to tweet

The NY Times story points out it's possible they were trying to match the colors of their university, but those include gold rather than yellow and these colors do look more like Ukraine's flag.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/18/science/russian-astronauts-yellow-blue-flight-suits-ukraine.html

The Russian astronauts did not say anything that would suggest that their clothing was a political statement. Yet it seemed difficult to believe it was happenstance. The outfits worn by astronauts in orbit on a daily basis tend to be subdued. But recent crews from Russia have worn vibrant flight suits of various colors during their arrival, including Yulia Peresild, an actress who arrived on the station in November in a bold red coverall.

Eric Berger, a space reporter at the website Ars Technica, said the flight suits are usually prepared and packed months in advance but that substitutes could have been added among the last items to be loaded on the spacecraft.

Jonathan McDowell, a scientist at the Harvard Center for Astrophysics who closely follows space missions, suggested the colors might actually be those of Bauman Moscow State Technical University, which all three of the astronauts — Oleg Artemyev, Denis Matveev and Sergey Korsakov — attended. An official from the university spoke as a guest on the Russian livestream of the launch on Friday.

Mr. Berger, however, noted that the colors of the flight suit more closely matched those of the Ukrainian flag.

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12 replies	Author	Time	Post
The 3 Russian astronauts who just reached the space station wore colors matching Ukraine's flag (Original post)	highplainsdem	Mar 2022	OP
That's a huge stretch...	brooklynite	Mar 2022	#1
This message was self-deleted by its author	Chin music	Mar 2022	#2
Wow. Even if they didn't intend it as a tribute to Ukraine,	tanyev	Mar 2022	#3
It's not like they have choices of uniform	iemanja	Mar 2022	#4
Is it safe for them to return to	Cha	Mar 2022	#5
This message was self-deleted by its author	Chin music	Mar 2022	#10
Remind me why I care about what Russian astronauts wear in space...	littlemissmartypants	Mar 2022	#6
Because it takes a lot of balls and class to do it in there position	CentralMass	Mar 2022	#9
To do what? Put on a jumpsuit?	littlemissmartypants	Mar 2022	#12
That's not the same blue as on the Ukrainian flag though... To my eye, anyway.	RockRaven	Mar 2022	#7
This makes me smile	LetMyPeopleVote	Mar 2022	#8
Those suits were designed and made weeks or months ago.	crickets	Mar 2022	#11

Response to highplainsdem (Original post)

Fri Mar 18, 2022, 10:30 PM

brooklynite (89,533 posts)

1. That's a huge stretch...

They wore the suits they were issued by Russian Space authorities. The suits were yellow with Russian flags (red, white and blue), not yellow and blue.

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Response to highplainsdem (Original post)

Chin music This message was self-deleted by its author.

Response to highplainsdem (Original post)

Fri Mar 18, 2022, 10:31 PM

tanyev (40,874 posts)

3. Wow. Even if they didn't intend it as a tribute to Ukraine,

there's a significant risk that Paranoid Pootie would see it as such.

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Response to highplainsdem (Original post)

Fri Mar 18, 2022, 10:33 PM

iemanja (52,850 posts)

4. It's not like they have choices of uniform

The New York Times should know better. God knows what Putin will do just because of the publicity.

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Response to highplainsdem (Original post)

Fri Mar 18, 2022, 10:36 PM

Cha (289,498 posts)

5. Is it safe for them to return to

Earth?!

Rt💕🐱‍🏍TY

💙💛

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Response to Cha (Reply #5)

Chin music This message was self-deleted by its author.

Response to highplainsdem (Original post)

Fri Mar 18, 2022, 10:54 PM

littlemissmartypants (21,052 posts)

6. Remind me why I care about what Russian astronauts wear in space...

🌻🇺🇦❤🇺🇦🌻 Slava Ukraini! 🌻🇺🇦❤🇺🇦🌻

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Response to littlemissmartypants (Reply #6)

Fri Mar 18, 2022, 11:13 PM

CentralMass (15,141 posts)

9. Because it takes a lot of balls and class to do it in there position

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Response to CentralMass (Reply #9)

Sat Mar 19, 2022, 01:02 AM

littlemissmartypants (21,052 posts)

12. To do what? Put on a jumpsuit?

I've also read that the yellow jumpsuits were actually gold to match the school colors for some university or school they were representing. So the premise of the article is a fallacy from the start.

It's a guessing game as to their true intent as they've not explicitly stated the meaning behind the color. If they were really supportive of Ukraine they'd say so which would actually "take a lot of balls" and potentially show "class" to do since they're Russians.

Remind me of this the next time someone mentions how shallow it is to judge someone by the clothes they wear. Which happens a fair amount here on DU.

Here's a link* to an article that does well to address the actual ramifications for the continuation of the space program considering the effects of sanctions and the fluid relationship between the USA and Russia.

It's definitely not a click bait article about their wardrobe. It's an interview with NASA Administrator Bill Nelson where he mentions the need for establishing a contingency plan to keep the space station project going.

The launch comes amid high tension and strained relations in the wake of Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine, its cancellation of cooperative commercial ventures in response to sanctions and a steady stream of fiercely critical comments from the director of the Russian space agency, raising concern about the station's future.

There are clearly more important points to consider.

* https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cosmonauts-launch-to-international-space-station-nasa-chief-touts-us-russia-cooperation/

FYI: It's not there, it's their.

Thanks for the reply, CentralMass.

❤

🌻🇺🇦❤🇺🇦🌻 Slava Ukraini! 🌻🇺🇦❤🇺🇦🌻

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Response to highplainsdem (Original post)

Fri Mar 18, 2022, 11:03 PM

RockRaven (13,401 posts)

7. That's not the same blue as on the Ukrainian flag though... To my eye, anyway.

Yeah it's a shade of blue, but so what? Counting their flag patches, they're wearing yellow, blue, red, white. So... primary colors.

I could just as easily say they are paying homage to Superman as claim they are paying homage to Ukraine. More easily, even, since the shade of blue matches better.

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Response to highplainsdem (Original post)

Fri Mar 18, 2022, 11:06 PM

LetMyPeopleVote (136,072 posts)

8. This makes me smile

Link to tweet

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Response to highplainsdem (Original post)

Fri Mar 18, 2022, 11:35 PM

crickets (25,611 posts)

11. Those suits were designed and made weeks or months ago.

They were likely intended as a celebratory victory statement.

Apologies, I saw the other thread first.
https://democraticunderground.com/100216499424

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