Fallout from the Russia-Ukraine war is threatening Mark Vande Hei's scheduled return to Earth from space at the end of the month.
The Benilde-St. Margaret's and St. John's University graduate is set to parachute to a landing in Kazakhstan on March 30 with two Russian cosmonauts.
But President Joe Biden's sanctions against Russia prompted threats from the head of the Russian space agency and ally to Russian President Vladimir Putin: In a Feb. 26 video, Dmitry Rogozin "threatened to leave Vande Hei behind in space and detach Russia's segment of the space station altogether," ABC News reported on Wednesday.