NASA astronauts set for spacewalk, continue work with Russian colleagues amid rising tensions

Two NASA astronauts are set to carry out a spacewalk on Tuesday, as they continue to collaborate with their Russian colleagues despite ongoing tensions due to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

NASA’s space station program manager, Joel Montalbano, in a Monday briefing said NASA will continue business as usual despite the war in Ukraine, The Washington Post reported.

“All these activities have continued for 20 years, and nothing has changed in the last three weeks,” Montalbano said, according to the Post. “We’re aware of what’s going on, but we are able to do our jobs to continue operations.”

Montalbano reportedly confirmed that NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei is still scheduled to board a Russian Soyuz spacecraft with two Russian cosmonauts.

“I can tell you for sure Mark is coming home on that Soyuz,” he said, according to the Post. “We are in communication with our Russian colleagues. There’s no fuzz on that.”

Cooperation between the U.S. and Russia is essential to the functioning of the International Space Station, Montalbano explained. The United States gives power to the Russian side of the station, while Russia’s Progress vehicle has thrusters that keep the station on its correct orbit and away from debris.