---
title: "NASA Astronaut Returns to Earth on Russian Spacecraft"
description: "This morning, NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei returned from the International Space Station to in a Russian Soyuz capsule, along with two Russian cosmonauts."
date: "2022-03-30"
modified: "2022-03-30"
authors:
  - name: "Jon Christian"
    job_title: "Executive Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-astronaut-returns-earth-russian-spacecraft"
categories:
  - "NASA"
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "NASA"
  - "roscmosmos"
  - "space station"
  - "the digest"
---

# NASA Astronaut Returns to Earth on Russian Spacecraft

![This morning, NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei returned from the International Space Station to in a Russian Soyuz capsule, along with two Russian cosmonauts.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/nasa-astronaut-returns-earth-russian-spacecraft.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: NASA\</em\>*

## Small Talk

It would have been amazing to be a fly on the wall. This morning, NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei took the long trip back from the International Space Station to Earth in an interesting vehicle: a Russian Soyuz capsule, along with two Russian cosmonauts.

For years, after the end of the Space Shuttle program marked a period when NASA would regularly contract the Russian space agency Roscmosmos to fly its astronauts to and from the ISS, that would have been a fairly standard arrangement. But as Russia's invasion of Ukraine has strained the relationship between the two countries to the breaking point, [many wondered what the dynamics](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-astronaut-russian-spacecraft>) of this journey would be like.

Fortunately, it sounds like things went fine.

"Probably the last time Americans and Russians fly together in space for a long time, but Roscosmos was professional and classy with Mark's return," [wrote *NASASpaceFlight* editor Chris Berger](<https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight/status/1509140608262225922>) after the successful landing in Kazakhstan this morning.

## Friends Forever

NASA officials have repeatedly stressed that even in the face of dire international tension, the collaboration between Russia and the United States on the ISS remains smooth.

"For the safety of our astronauts, the working relationship between NASA and our international partners continues,” NASA administrator Bill Nelson [said earlier this week](<https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/29/science/nasa-russia-mark-vande-hei.html?ref=oembed>). "And that includes the professional relationship between the cosmonauts and our astronauts."

That spirit of continued camaraderie hasn't necessarily included alumnae of NASA's astronaut program, though — especially after Russia [released a controversial video](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/russia-iss-breaking-video>) that many interpreted as an oblique threat to leave Vande Hei behind on the ISS.

"I was just enraged that he, the \[cosmonauts\], said that they were going to leave an American crew member behind," former NASA astronaut Scott Kelly [said after the release of the clip](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-astronaut-enraged-russian-threat>).

It's also worth noting that Nelson's counterpart in the Russian space program, Dmitry Rogozin, hasn't echoed NASA's even-tempered tone. Instead, he's released a series of statements that have alternated between [threatening](<https://futurism.com/dmitry-rogozin-space-debris>), [wheedling](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/russia-begs-nasa-help>), and [just plain bizarre](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/russian-space-head-nasa-astronaut-dementia>).

At the landing site in Kazakhstan, though, it sounds like everything stayed professional.

**More on the ISS:** [*Russian Cosmonaut Hands Over Command of Space Station to NASA Astronaut*](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/cosmonaut-command-iss-nasa>)

## Author
I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/jonchristian.net>)