In an apparent half joke and criticism of Russia, NASA astronaut Scott Kelly has announced an annexation of his own: Mars, or at least a part of it.
On the same day as Putin’s announcement, Kelly made an announcement of his own, in apparent mockery of Russia’s annexation plans.
Wait, where is the border of Mount Olympus?
— Scott Kelly (@StationCDRKelly) October 3, 2022
Now, of course, Kelly doesn’t actually have any authority to annex a mountain on Mars, but that seems to be the point of his joke. Kelly apparently wants his followers to realize he has just as much right to Mount Olympus (also known as “Olympus Mons) as Russia has to Ukrainian territory.
And most of his followers apparently did get the joke. Some even shot back, claiming they had already called dibs on the red planet’s mountain.
Kelly has a history of poking fun at Russia, and was famous for getting into Twitter spats with the head of Russia’s space agency before NASA told him to back off, worried about damaging the International Space Station mission.
Speaking with CNN, Kelly said in March he was going to shy away from trolling Russia per NASA’s request, but it seems Putin’s announcement reinvigorated that flame, and Kelly again found himself poking the proverbial bear.
