Russia's space agency seemingly threatened to leave an American astronaut aboard the International Space Station. Photo / NASA
Russia's space agency seemingly threatened to leave an American astronaut aboard the International Space Station. Photo / NASA
Russia's space agency has seemingly threatened to leave an American astronaut trapped on the International Space Station, after spending nearly a year on board with two Russian astronauts.
The man, 55-year-old Mark Vand Hei from Texas, is scheduled to land back on Earth on March 30.
An eerie video postedon official channels showed Russian astronauts waving him goodbye as they shut the doors on the ISS while upbeat music played in the background.
Russian media outlet RIA Novosti claimed the now unavailable video was a joke.
"The Roscosmos television studio jokingly demonstrated the possibility of Russia withdrawing from the ISS project – the undocking of the Russian segment of the station, without which the American part of the project cannot exist," the publication was quoted as saying.
But Van Hei's mother wasn't seeing the funny side, labelling the video 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," she said.
"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."
