Featured Image Credit: Alamy/@SpaceX/Twitter
Topics: Russia, Ukraine, Elon Musk, Volodymyr Zelensky, Vladimir Putin
Shola Lee
Topics: Russia, Ukraine, Elon Musk, Volodymyr Zelensky, Vladimir Putin
During the launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket this week, March 9, the launch director made a joke at the head of the Russian space programme.
In a video from the operation, launch director Julia Black can be heard mocking Dmitry Rogozin's earlier comments about American spacecrafts.
Previously, CEO of SpaceX Elon Musk has also mocked Rogozin as Russia announced it would no longer provide rocket engines to the US.
The back and forth started when Rogozin suggested the US would have to go into orbit on 'their broomsticks', after Russia said it would stop providing rocket engines to the US.
On March 3, Russia announced it would no longer sell rocket engines to the US in a retaliation to financial and economic sanctions imposed against them by the US amid the war in Ukraine.
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Musk in response posted a video to Twitter of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket launching an 47 Starlink satellite into orbit, along with the caption, 'American broomstick'.
Now, launch director Black has also joined in on the joke and can be heard saying as the rocket launched on Wednesday: 'Time to let the American broomstick fly and hear the sounds of freedom,' per the Independent.
Despite the mocking comments from Rogozin and Space X, NASA and the European Space Agency issued carefully worded statements about their continued cooperation with Roscosmos, the Russian state space cooperation, amid the war in Ukraine.
However, Rogozin's comments have been less tactful, as he also took to Twitter to threaten that Russia will be pulled out of the International Space Station, which has seen astronauts across the world, particularly those from the US and Russia, work together since it's launch in 1998.
While the future of Russia and the US's space collaboration seems clouded, Musk sent his Starlink satellite system to Ukraine, to help the country with its internet access.
The satellites came after the vice prime minister of Ukraine, Mykhailo Fedorov, said Russian president Vladimir Putin's invasion disrupted internet access.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy then thanked Musk for sending the rockets, saying in a video posted to Instagram, 'If you have time, after the war, you are very welcome [to Ukraine] I invite you.'
Musk has also offered support to Ukraine in a series of recent tweets, as well as the 'great people of Russia, who do not want this'.
If you would like to donate to the Red Cross Emergency Appeal, which will help provide food, medicines and basic medical supplies, shelter and water to those in Ukraine, click here for more information