In More "News" That Never Happened: A Russian State TV Outlet Is Showing Russian "Detachment" From ISS...

Let's be clear: this has NOT happened -- and as many have said, it is likely that the Russian Cosmonauts would, if told to do so by Moscow, ignore the order -- and catch return rides home, eventually with US or EU crewed missions. They would simply. . . defect.

I suppose we should prepare for more of this sort of nonsense, out of Moscow. And we should hope that enough real Russians are listening to shortwave EU radio, and/or using WhatsApp. . . to learn the truth here.

This is the entirely faked video segment. Amazing (primarily for how terrible the CGI is. . . obviously not real) -- as one commenter there, on the YouTube feed, notes:

. . .While the commentary in the video says that it shows the Zvezda module being detached, the Russian video shows the separation between the Zarya and Unity modules. This would be a major theft by the Russians. For although the Zarya module was built and launched by Russia, it was paid for by NASA and is owned by NASA. If Russia is going to remove their section, they will need to move the Rassvet module from the Zarya to the Zvezda before separating the Zvezda from the Zarya module. . . .

It is going to be far harder in the Web 2.0 age, to fool even "some of the people, some of the time." Onward, smiling. . . . may head back out, into the high Sonoran desert -- around St. Patricks, now. . . .

नमस्ते