Photo: Pavel Kassin/AP/Shutterstock
Russian Cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev ran over a colleague on Monday night while driving outside of Moscow, Russian space agency Roscosmos said.
According to theAssociated Press, Artemyev, who recently spent 195 days in space, accidentally hit a pedestrian while traveling down a dimly lit area. The accident happened less than three weeks after Artemyev returned to Earth, the outlet added, citing a translatedstatementfrom Roscosmos.
Artemyev provided first aid to the victim, Anatoly Uronov, who was later transferred to a hospital to treat several fractures. The 63-year-old was crossing the road when the incident occurred.
Journalist Anatoly Zak described Uronov as a “project manager” of Star City, a cosmonaut training center.
In their statement, Roscosmos said Artemyev was not under the influence of alcohol and quickly called emergency services after the accident.
Research has shown that people who spend time in space need time away from driving because their ability to operate a vehicle is reduced,Space.comnoted.
In 2013, flight surgeon Raffi Kuyumjian said that someone who has been to space for an extended period of time would need aboutthree weeks off from driving. At the time of Artemyev’s accident, 19 days had passed from his return to Earth, though there’s no indication whether his recent time in space was a factor in the incident.
Per Space.com, Artemyev has spent a total of 560 days in space over three missions in 2014, 2018, and 2022.
He previously worked for the Soviet Army and spacecraft manufacturer RSC Energia.
source: people.com
