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You are here: Home / Foreign Affairs / ‘Some times yellow is just yellow…’

‘Some times yellow is just yellow…’

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This is interesting:

The docking and crew entry were live-streamed by Roscosmos and NASA, and according to the BBC article, “the standard-issue Russian uniform is plain blue, and at least one of the men was seen wearing this before take-off.”

“It became our turn to pick a colour,” Mr Artemyev said when he was asked about the suits in a live-streamed press conference.

“We had accumulated a lot of yellow material so we needed to use it,” he joked. “That’s why we had to wear yellow.”

Huh. More from the Beeb:

But Roscosmos’s press service dismissed the reports as a “funny invention” by foreign bloggers and media.

“The flight suits of the new crew are made in the colours of the emblem of the Bauman Moscow State Technical University, which all three cosmonauts graduated from…To see the Ukrainian flag everywhere and in everything is crazy.”

Maybe. But if so, what an inexcusable PR blunder on the part of Roscosmos.

Open thread!

Reader Interactions

38Comments

  2. 2.

    Baud

    “What’s with the sunflowers?”

    “Oh they’re just to liven up the space station. It doesn’t mean anything.  It’s just a flower.”

  3. 3.

    bbleh

    Lol. In any case what a blunder. Yeah maybe some people would see the Ukrainian colors in everything, but at the very least they should have.

    Unless, of course, it was deliberate…

  4. 4.

    Ohio Mom

    That is weird, though they probably start sewing the uniforms way in advance. More than two weeks ago, with measurements and everything else that’s part of the process.

  7. 7.

    zhena gogolia

    There does seem to be a lot of sartorial signaling going on. The couple walking out of the rally before even going in, she in a yellow coat, he in a light blue one; the guy with the message on the back of his coat, etc.

  9. 9.

    scav

    Accumulated a lot of yellow? What an odd acquisition process that presupposes!  Randomly colored bolts of cloth just appearing like gum-balls out of a penny machine. Indiscriminately colored uniforms sprouting like mushrooms in the transport rocket wardrobes.

     

    ETA.  Still, given their other option was blue, good thing they didn’t dress randomly. THAT would have been awkward.

  14. 14.

    Ohio Mom

    @PJ: I’ve really lost track of time, haven’t I? Still, I think those uniforms were started long before the first attack.

  15. 15.

    Brachiator

    Even if a cosmic cosmological cosmonaut coincidence, I will accept it.

    They call it mellow yellow, quite rightly.

  17. 17.

    Suzanne

    SCENE: Me and Mr. Suzanne, wandering around the kitchen aimlessly, about ten minutes ago

    Me: “I’m so tired.”

    Mr. Suzanne: “Me too.”

    Me: “I wonder if I’m getting sick, feel my forehead.”

    Mr. Suzanne: :::feels my forehead:::

    ”Nope, you’re fine.”

    Me: “Just tired.”

    Mr. Suzanne: “I can’t imagine why.”

  19. 19.

    Another Scott

    Symbolism in everything space-related is very important.

    EurasiaNet.org:

    Russian officials are depicting the Kazakhstan steppe town that hosts the world’s oldest space-launch facility as marching in lockstep with Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine – much to the outrage of many Kazakhs.

    Dmitri Rogozin, head of Russia’s space agency Roscosmos, wrote in a March 9 post on Twitter that Baikonur residents had been involved in displays of support for what Vladimir Putin has dubbed a “special military operation.”

    The post featured photos of cars and residents forming the letters “V” and “Z,” which have become unofficial symbols of support for the invasion, as well as a photo of Kazakh youth waving Russian flags.

    Rogozin called it “a demonstration in support of V.V. Putin and the armed forces of Russia.”

    That Moscow is using the town as a propaganda tool is uncomfortable for Kazakhstan, where authorities are stressing their neutrality in a bid to dodge direct sanctions and avoid further igniting local passions surrounding the bloody, escalating war.

    The town’s complicated legal status gives Nur-Sultan limited room for maneuver, however.

    According to a bilateral agreement, Baikonur “is endowed with a status corresponding to the city of federal significance of the Russian Federation, with a special regime for the safe operation of facilities, enterprises and organizations, as well as the residence of citizens” for as long as the Kazakh government leases the launch facility to Russia.

    While the city’s mayor is jointly appointed by the presidents of both countries, it is Moscow that proposes the candidate.

    Rogozin’s post caused a wave of anger on social media, where many users said they believe local students had been unwittingly drafted into the demonstration.

    […]

    I spent a few minutes on Google Images looking for pictures of cosmonauts in yellow. None showed up earlier than this stuff today.

    There are no coincidences when it comes to stuff going up in rockets, especially with human crews. IMHO.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  23. 23.

    Calouste

    @Another Scott: Kazakhstan has seen some serious riots in the last few years, most recently in January, when more than 200 people were killed in protests over fuel prices, that only got suppressed after the intervention of Russian troops.

  24. 24.

    Howard Beale IV

    Could have fooled me – thought they were advertising “Streaming Yellow Zonkers”

  25. 25.

    TeezySkeezy

    Since Putin such a reasonable, not-at-all-paranoid guy, I’m sure their explanation will fly….*stares directly into the camera.

  29. 29.

    bbleh

    @scav: Oh no darling, haven’t you heard?  Accumulated Yellow? Why it’s absolutely the latest shade — very hard to get hold of, sells out as soon as they get it …

  30. 30.

    bbleh

    @Another Scott:  Symbolism … In … Spaaace.

    Also, one notes now that the putative school colors “include” yellow and blue.

    It is to lol.  Except for the people who will be shot, of course.

  31. 31.

    Jerzy Russian

    @Suzanne:   I have been unusually tired today myself.  It is 5:30 pm and I am trying to motivate myself to get into the shower in the off chance that the shower will perk me up.

  33. 33.

    NotMax

    @Jerzy Russian

    A little past 2:30 here. About to stretch out to “rest my eyes for a few minutes.”

    As experience has amply demonstrated, coin toss whether or not will awaken for timely attendance of tonight’s RPG group Zoom, which kicks off at 6 p.m.

  35. 35.

    Another Scott

    I was bored and decided to try to find the school colors. The school athletes don’t seem to wear anything yellow – a video of a volleyball tournament had the players in a pastel blue.

    The school logo has 2 shades of blue and an orange/gold color (3:44 video). The sunflower yellow on their jumpsuits is not anything close to the school colors.

    As usual, VVP’s flunkies are lying. Poorly.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  37. 37.

    SocraticGadfly

    Russian cosmonauts have worn yellow kit before, going back at least as far as 2015. Besides, the Russian flag is clearly visible on the uni.

    I found this info with about 15 seconds of Twitter work. Fortunately, I follow enough of the right people. I expect Balloon Juice to generally have more critical thinking.

  38. 38.

    Pragmatic Idealist

    It was pointed out that the last time cosmonauts wore that color was 2014, specifically to celebrate taking Crimea from Ukraine. Given that a prewritten article was accidentally posted online on the third day of the invasion celebrating the completed victory over Ukraine this could be another part of the victory celebration that the Russians were too incompetent to suppress.

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