Russia: NASA, Just Use Trampolines To Reach Space!

Bitter much? In response to the new Western-imposed sanctions, a Russian official used his Twitter account Tuesday to suggest that NASA start using trampolines to get astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) from now on. The angry tweet may have something to do with the fact that the official — deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin — has been personally targeted by the sanctions, and comes only a few days after Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly began giving President Barack Obama the cold shoulder.

"The United States introduced sanctions against our space industry... We warned them, we will reply to statements with statements, to actions with actions," Rogozin, who is head of Russia's defense industry, said in Russian via Twitter on Tuesday. "I propose that the United States delivers its astronauts to the ISS with the help of a trampoline."

As it stands, the U.S. has been depending solely on Russian rockets to get its personnel into space, so Rogozin's attack was probably meant to hit home. But as the Washington Post points out, Russia gets roughly $71 million from the U.S. for every person they ferry, and right now, they're owed a cool $457.9 million — so the Deputy Prime Minister's comment is probably more bark than bite.

Still, his reaction is somewhat understandable. Rogozin is personally on the list of Russian officials who will be feeling the effects of the U.S.' new sanctions (with his financial assets due to be frozen imminently), which were put in place in response to Russia's failure to ameliorate the ongoing crisis in Ukraine. "I am sick and tired of these sanctions, to be honest," Rogozin told reporters earlier in Simferopol. "They don't understand that the sanctions will hit them like a boomerang."

So far, space operations between Russia and the U.S. seem to be doing alright. But, we can safely say, in terms of maturity? U.S. 1, Russia 0.