The crisis in Ukraine may have ratcheted up tensions between the U.S. and Russia.<br/> <br />But from the International Space Station earlier this month, those differences were looking pretty small.<br/> <br />NASA astronaut Mike Hopkins spent 166 days on the space station, working closely with his Russian cosmonaut colleagues Oleg Kotov and Sergey Ryazansky.<br/> <br />The three-man crew landed safely in Kazakhstan March 10, well aware of the east-west tensions affecting their countries.<br/> <br />On Thursday, Hopkins said diplomatic rows on earth didn't affect the mission in space.<br/> <br />(SOUNDBITE)(English) MIKE HOPKINS, AMERICAN ASTRONAUT WHO RECENTLY RETURNED FROM 166 DAYS ON THE ISS SAYING:<br/> <br />"I returned to earth with two Russian cosmonauts and again those are my friends, I certainly count them as close friends, and so I enjoyed all my time with them."<br/> <br />The U.S. has imposed sanctions on Russian officials over the Kremlin's handling of the political and military crisis in Ukraine.<br/> <br />The
