Yuri Gagarin, Soviet pioneer of space conquest and died in 1968, “censored” or victim of “cancel culture” because of the war in Ukraine? Accusations have multiplied since this weekend against the Space Foundation (the Space Foundation). This American organization has removed the name of Yuri Gagarin, a famous Soviet cosmonaut who was the first man to fly in space on April 12, 1961, from an event scheduled to take place on April 3. First called “Yuri’s Evening”, it has been renamed “A Celebration of Space: find out more”.
During this evening, open to all adults over 21, the Space Foundation offers to meet astronauts, take part in a drone or Rover robot race, a family of robots that has been sent to Mars.
The Space Foundation justifies this change “in light of current world events”. The withdrawal of the name of the cosmonaut, spotted by an American journalist on March 15, is no longer visible online on the event website. However, we still find on the site a biography of the cosmonaut.
If this change has made waves on social networks, it has mobilized specialists much less, who recall that the Space Foundation is not a major player in the aeronautical world.
FAKE OFF
For Arnaud Saint-Martin, sociologist at the CNRS and specialist in space issues, this withdrawal of the name of the Soviet hero “is quite anecdotal”. This evening, which has existed for several years, is not a research symposium, but “a festive evening, where all the people passionate about space meet, explains the specialist to 20 minutes. It is also used for networking. »
The Space Foundation is not primarily intended to carry out scientific research. It is, “like other associations of the same type in the United States, a interest group which aims to encourage the development of American space activities, to defend the federal expenditure for space”, develops the specialist. “These are associations whose purpose is to put pressure on Washington to have budgets [pour la conquête spatiale] ever more important,” he adds.
This non-profit foundation also has the mission of making space and the conquest of space known to as many people as possible, including children. This is no coincidence in the history of the American space conquest, underlines Arnaud Saint-Martin, who recalls that “out of a budget of 23 billion dollars in 2021, NASA has a budget of 130 million dollars earmarked towards education, that is to say in particular towards schoolchildren. This is also used to finance scholarships for students or sponsor television programs. »
The war in Ukraine has not stopped all international collaboration in space: while Russia has suspended Soyuz launches from the Kourou site in Guyana, three Russian cosmonauts arrived on the International Space Station on Friday. The war could have other consequences on the Guyanese site: in addition to the cessation of Soyuz launches, the Italian Vega launcher, powered by a Ukrainian engine, could experience “supply shortages”, warns the researcher. The risk is to see launches postponed.