Russia's head of Roscosmos Dmitry Rogozin and famed former NASA astronaut Scott Kelly exchanged some hostile words on Twitter as Kremlin continues its attacks on Ukraine.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, the space partnership between the US and Russia has deteriorated significantly, prompting the U.S. and a number of other countries to impose new economic sanctions.
Russian space officials have denounced the sanctions and, as a result, have halted the sale of Russian-made rocket engines to American companies, as well as the launch of Russian-built Soyuz rockets from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana.
Rogozin even called the country's participation in the International Space Station program into question. Rogozin has recently sent out a flurry of incendiary tweets, some of which were directed at Kelly. The former astronaut has frequently tweeted in Russian about the invasion of Ukraine, and he has targeted Roscosmos and Rogozin in particular.
Last week, Rogozin tweeted a video of technicians taping over the flags of the U.S., Japan, and other countries on the Soyuz rocket, which was set to carry 36 internet satellites for the U.K.'s OneWeb but was canceled by Russia.
"The launchers at Baikonur decided that without the flags of some countries, our rocket would look more beautiful," Rogozin wrote in Russian. (Translation provided by Google)
Kelly tweeted back Sunday (Mar. 6), writing, "Dimon, without those flags and the foreign exchange they bring in, your space program won't be worth a damn. Maybe you can find a job at McDonald's if McDonald's still exists in Russia."
Rogozin, in fury, responded, "Get off, you moron! Otherwise the death of the ISS will be on your conscience!"
Kelly demanded an explanation after that tweet was quickly deleted:
"Dimon, why did you delete this tweet? Don't want everyone to see what kind of child you are?" the former astronaut tweeted Monday (March 7).
"Dimon" is a common form of "Dimitry," and Kelly's use of it irritated Rogozin, Space.com notes.
Rogozin is no stranger to hostile and controversial words. When Rogozin was Russia's deputy prime minister in 2014, he suggested that NASA transport astronauts to the space station on a trampoline. This was a statement against sanctions placed in the aftermath of Russia's invasion of Crimea; at the time, Soyuz spacecraft were the only vehicles capable of transporting humans to and from the orbiting lab.
Rogozin stated on Russian television just last week, while declaring that Russia will no longer sell rocket engines to American corporations, "Let them fly on something else, their broomsticks, I don't know what."
Kelly visited the ISS on three of his four spaceflights, spending nearly a year onboard the orbiting laboratory on his final mission, which stretched from March 2015 to March 2016. All astronauts who visit the space station must be fluent in both English and Russian, which explains Kelly's ability to address Rogozin in the latter's native tongue.
In 1999, he flew on a space shuttle mission that serviced the Hubble Space Telescope.
