CAPE CANAVERAL (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 05th October, 2022) US astronaut Nick Hague told Sputnik that one of the magical things about space exploration is that the nations do it jointly.
"That's really one of the magical things about exploring space is that we do it together," Hague said. "One of the biggest things that I took away from my experience so far, that I've taken away is the ability to travel the world, to train all around the world, whether it's in Japan, or Canada, or in Russia or Germany, doing that training and getting to appreciate those cultures and getting to know my fellow astronauts and cosmonauts as the special people they are. That's one of the best parts about this job."
Hague shared that he has spent a lot of time in Russia and has lots of cosmonaut friends that he worked with.
"I depend on those people. When we launch and we live on the space station together, We depend on each other. We have this interdependency," he pointed out. "They're my crewmates. They're my family. I depend on them. And they depend on me."
Hague spoke on the eve of NASA's launch of the SpaceX Crew-5 mission with US and Japanese astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut to the International Space Station (ISS).
"I'm excited to sit here and watch the mission happen," Hague shared. "We're going to be here, and tomorrow we're going to witness the four humans launch into space together and they're going to join a bunch of people that are already living in orbit. And we're continuing the mission."
The Crew-5 flight will carry NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada, who will serve as mission commander and pilot, respectively, along with Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina, who will serve as mission specialists.
Hague shared that he personally knows Kikina.
"I've met Anna, you know, I spent a lot of time in Star City training for my Soyuz missions," he explained. "And I had a chance to meet her and interact. She's an amazing individual. Like all the cosmonauts I know over there. I'm excited to see her and Koichi and Nicole and Josh blast off tomorrow."
In 2019, Russian President Vladimir Putin has awarded US astronaut Nick Hague with the Order of Courage for the bravery that he showed during the aborted launch of Russia's Soyuz-FG rocket in October 2018.
On October 11, 2018, the Soyuz-FG booster failed to launch the Soyuz MS-10 spacecraft, which was supposed to bring Hague and Russian cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin to the International Space Station (ISS).The mission was aborted due to booster malfunction minutes after liftoff. The two-man crew escaped in a rescue capsule and returned to the ground unharmed.
As Russian State Space Corporation Roscosmos and NASA agreed to organize a new flight promptly, Hague and Ovchinin arrived at the ISS on March 15, together with NASA astronaut Christina Koch. On October 3, Hague and Ovchinin returned to Earth aboard a Soyuz MS-12 spacecraft, together with the first UAE astronaut, Hazzaa Al Mansoori.
