“Abandoned by NASA”, saved by Russia? We explain the story of the American astronaut

On September 23, American astronaut Tracy C. Dyson returned to Earth after a six-month stay in space aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Photos and videos from this event circulated on social media. Pro-Russian accounts on Platform X highlighted Russia's role because Dyson returned aboard the Russian Soyuz M-25 spacecraft. Why? She was to be abandoned by the United States. The entries were distributed in various languages. We found entries after English; French, in Spanish, Polish.

The most popular post has over two million views. It appeared on an account that has the name of the Russian special forces Spetsnaz in its name. The entry from September 24 is in English and we read in it: “Why didn't the Western media cover this yesterday? CNN, BBC American astronaut Tracey Dyson, who was abandoned by NASA, returned to earth safely in the Russian Soyuz M-25 spacecraft. Isn't it embarrassing that your country saves you, Whose killing are you financing?” (translation of all entries from the editors). An Internet user posted a 19-second video showing Dyson being pulled out of the rocket capsule and carried to the ground by men in uniforms with a Russian flag on their shoulders.

There are also opinions on the Internet that: “NASA failed to check it back”; “Once again Russia is doing something good”; “Isn't it strange how Russia's rescue of an American astronaut is barely covered by the Western media?”

The message also appeared on the Polish network. One of the accounts it simply translated the above entry into Polish. The same recording was included. This post has over 270,000 views. views.

Under the Polish entry, commenters answered the question asked in the entry why the Western media did not cover this story: “Maybe because it is not politically correct”; “Another nativity scene…”; “She will never return to the US after being abandoned like this. I'm waiting for her to appear with Putin and promote peace in the country”; “They would have to thank Russia and Putin”; “They're so American, these Russians.”

But a number of Internet users wrote to the author of the post that what he wrote about abandoning the American woman was nonsense. So what was it really like? We checked.

Tracey C. Dyson, along with two Russian astronauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub, returned to Earth from the International Space Station on September 23, 2024. They landed on the Kazakh steppe in a Russian Soyuz M-25 spacecraft. Kononenko and Czub thus broke the record for the longest single stay on the ISS. Their stay lasted from August 15, 2023, i.e. 374 days. Dyson's mission lasted 184 days, during which she conducted a lot of scientific research. This was her third space flight, she had previously participated in the Endeauvour mission in 2007 and in two expeditions to the ISS in 2010. Footage from the landing in Kazakhstan published by NASA.

However, contrary to the narrative propagated by pro-Russian accounts, it was known from the very beginning that Dyson would go on a mission aboard a Russian ship and return on board. NASA has been informing about this in its announcements for a long time. Agency in September 2023when announcing the Dyson mission, she wrote: “Dyson will launch aboard the Soyuz M-25 spacecraft in March 2024 and will spend approximately six months on the International Space Station. It will travel to the station with cosmonaut Oleg Nowicki and Marina Vasilevskaya from Belarus, who will spend about 12 days on board the orbital complex. (…) After the expedition, Dyson will return to Earth in the fall of 2024 with cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub aboard the Soyuz M-25 spacecraft (bold from the editor)”.

NASA repeated similar information in message from the day Dyson II and other astronauts launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on March 23, 2024. “Dyson will spend six months on board the station as a flight engineer. In September, he will return to Earth together with Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub from Roscosmos (Russian space agency, equivalent of NASA – ed.), who will complete a one-year mission in the laboratory,” it was written. It was also known from the beginning that after landing in Kazakhstan, Dyson would return to the United States.

The fake news may have been inspired by the true story of two American astronauts' troubles returning to Earth. Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams have been on the International Space Station since early June 2024. The two were scheduled to be there for just a few days, but will stay until February 2025 due to technical problems with their Boeing-designed Starliner capsule. In September, the capsule was brought back to Earth. And the astronauts will return as part of the SpaceX Crew-9 mission. However, as you can see, they were not abandoned by the United States. They only have technical problems with getting back.