According to the British “Daily Mail” report, Yevgeny Miklin, the chief designer of the Russian manned spaceflight system, has been diagnosed with the New Coronary Pneumonia virus. He had personally visited the launch site of the Russian “Union MS-16” spacecraft and met three astronauts who took off in the spacecraft. This puts the International Space Station at risk of invasion by the new coronavirus.
On April 9, the “Union MS-16” spacecraft sent two Russian astronauts and one American astronaut from the Baikonur launch site in Kazakhstan International Space Station. According to plan, these three people will be stationed on the International Space Station for 196 days.
Micklin, 64, and Dmitry Rogozin, director of the Russian Federal Space Agency, 56, flew from Moscow to Baikonur for a 3-hour flight To see off the three astronauts heading to the International Space Station. Before the launch, the two were sitting together in the conference room, separated from the three astronauts by a glass.
According to the “Daily Mail” report, at the farewell ceremony, Rogozin was also seen standing near the staff of the “Union MS-16” spacecraft and wearing it for a while After wearing the mask, take off the mask again. He was also photographed getting together with a group of people including astronauts before launch, without maintaining a social distance. None of the three astronauts wore masks at the ceremony.
On April 15, Rogozin once tweeted that as of 10 o’clock that day, 30 people in the Russian rocket and space field had been diagnosed with new coronary pneumonia. one of them. It is unknown whether Micklin is close to the staff of the “Union MS-16” spacecraft, because no such photos have been taken. It is not known where he was infected with the new coronavirus.
Russian officials have stated that they have taken “unusual measures” to avoid contamination of the International Space Station. After the three astronauts arrived in Baikonur, they underwent specific “health stabilization” steps, including a two-week isolation period.
Before launch, in the past, astronauts visited the ancient monuments of Baikonur before launching, and presented flowers to the monument of the world ’s first astronaut Gagarin. cancel. Relatives of astronauts were not allowed to see off at the Baikonur launch site in Kazakhstan, nor were media reporters allowed to report on the scene.
Batsmanova, a NASA medical staff member responsible for providing medical assistance to astronauts during spacecraft launches and landings, has stated that considering all people have May be infected with the new coronavirus, NASA has taken “enhanced” safety measures to reduce as much as possibleThe number of staff involved in the rocket launch and recovery of the recovery module, all staff in contact with astronauts must first undergo strict medical isolation.
Batsmanova said that national space agencies have been committed to preventing any viruses from entering the International Space Station, “Considering the enhanced security measures, the possibility of the new crown virus entering the International Space Station Sex is minimal. ”