US astronaut's parents in tears after Russia threatens to trap their son in space
dailystar.co.ukElon Musk has offered to step in to save him.Mark Vande Hei is current on the Russian-built International Space Station, and is due to return home at the end of this month.But his mother Mary has now told how she was reduced to tears after Russian space agency head Dmitry Rogozin said that Mr Vande Hei faces a real possibility of being left out there.
Roscomos head Mr Rogozin, speaking about most sanctions against Russia after its invasion into Ukraine, said: “Do you want to destroy our co-operation on the ISS? “If you block co-operation with us, who will save the ISS from an uncontrolled de-orbit and fall into the United States or Europe?”And 77-year-old Mary told the Mail on Sunday: “It’s a terrible threat.
When I first heard it I did a lot of crying. It’s very troubling.“We are just doing a lot of praying. It is really a shame that it’s been politicised like this - It’s quite a shock.“His wife, Julie, is very worried in Texas.
It’s very hard for her right now.”However, the astronauts father, an 80-year-old retired information systems executive was slightly more upbeat about their son.He said: “Our son does not scare easily.“These threats are just one person speaking and, though it’s the head of the Russian space agency, all the other people within the space agency seem very co-operative.”According to sources close to the situation, tech billionaire and SpaceX founder Elon Musk has said that he will use one of his rockets to rescue the man.NASA, however, has confirmed that he will return as expected on March 30, and that the team onboard the ISS are “continuing to safely conduct research operations in low-Earth orbit.” Never want to miss a story like this?
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