Interview with cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov. How fast is the adaptation? Which is better - in space or on Earth

The result of our unexpected meeting with cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov. The interview was prepared for questions from users of LiveJournal, publication and social network In contact with.

In November 2014, I was invited to talk about rovers and lunar rovers at the festival Robosib in Irkutsk. Here is a good report about the event from Leonida Kaganova. By a lucky chance, among the invited guests was Pavel Vladimirovich Vinogradov. I suggested that he conduct an interview with questions from the Internet. He gladly agreed. I pestered him for almost the entire flight Irkutsk-Moscow, as a result, a lot of material accumulated and a lot of time was spent on processing. I decided to divide all questions and answers into several parts. Conditionally it will be: “Medicine”, “Psychology”, “Technology”, “Roscosmos”. All of them are closely intertwined and extremely interesting, such details are often not found anywhere else.

Communication with astronauts and designers of space technology always reminds me that space is much more difficult and more complicated than we imagine, than books or movies draw. And such conversations are a way for a moment to look into a complex and unknown world with one eye, where a person takes only the first steps, achieved by incredible efforts at the limit of possibilities.

Pavel Vladimirovich has three space expeditions to his credit: one to Mir in 1997, and two to the ISS in 2006 and 2013. The cosmonaut worked in outer space for more than 38 hours, in 7 spacewalks, including participating in the aftermath of the collision of the Progress spacecraft with the Mir station in 1997.

Before joining the cosmonaut corps, at NPO Energia, Pavel was engaged in automated systems and the interaction of crews with them, participated, among other things, in the Buran project.

The accumulated experience and knowledge over 34 years of Pavel Vinogradov's work in the space industry is invaluable for the young generation of space enthusiasts and everyone who decides to connect their lives with the conquest of the Universe.

Today the first part:

The medicine

About health and weight control

One of the most popular questions- health. You are the only astronaut who has celebrated his sixtieth birthday in space and is now just as ready to fly. How do you manage to stay in shape? Even blood pressure is asked...

One hundred twenty eighty. I can’t manage it at all - thanks to mom and dad.

That is, you do not have any secret diets or vitamin complexes? ..

Never engaged in diets or vitamin complexes. The only thing that probably helped a lot was working as a tester at the Institute of Biomedical Problems. It's just fantastic invaluable experience, developing the habit of feeling yourself, feeling your body, knowing your limits, knowing your capabilities. We went to extreme, for normal people, modes ... Of course, there is also physical training, exercises: in the morning bend over five times, sit down eighty times ... I have never been a fan of sports, I don’t like to run like a horse for twenty kilometers. I run for pleasure, 2-3 sometimes 4 kilometers, at an easy pace. For me, it's more of an emotional release than a physical exercise.
Weight has to be monitored. So, after the last flight, I had to drop a little ...

So you've gained a lot there?

Before the flight, I already went a little beyond the border of comfortable well-being. My usual weight is 77-78 kg for my height and physique is normal, before the flight it was 82, after the flight I gained 84-85. It already felt somewhat uncomfortable. I set myself a goal ... No special diets, no exceptions, I eat calmly everything that crawls and moves. I just reduced my diet a little. I returned to physical activity, normal for me - medium and light. And returned to normal for me 77 kg.

Some astronauts note the difference in tastes on Earth and in orbit. It was so? What did you like at home, and what about the station?

About half of those who fly say that tastes are changing. Not even tastes, but preferences. But I was lucky, I am an omnivore, what I liked on Earth, then in flight. Although there is something that causes special pleasure. Cottage cheese with nuts is probably the favorite food of all astronauts of all crews. Fish products have now become good. In general, the range of food products at the station is now gigantic - under five hundred items. There are plenty to choose from. Moreover, the station is international and each country is trying to bring something of its own. Our diets are different. The Russian menu changes from time to time, but basically these are some fundamental dishes, almost always with meat, very high-calorie, under three thousand calories. Americans have a lot of very good things, they have various cereals ... In general, we have wonderful diets, buckwheat, pearl barley, mashed potatoes with onions ... but in the end it gets boring, annoying. I want something simple, earthy, boiled potatoes with herring and butter. After about a month of flight, you already begin to remember.

About vitamins and mind

Is any complex of drugs taken to increase concentration, mental tone?

There is a whole range of drugs associated mainly with vitamins and the maintenance of normal calcium metabolism, for cardiac work, a la panangin. I'm not saying that this is specifically panangin, but it is of such a class. There are all sorts of vitamins, B, D ... Because, despite the radiation level, vitamin D is simply not produced, it simply has nowhere to be produced there. And preventive measures are being taken, there is a whole complex of them, doctors, medical services all the time remind “guys, today we are starting such a cycle - five to seven days.” Well, from the mind, in my opinion, they didn’t take anything.

About weightlessness and overload

Tell us about weightlessness and the feeling of space. When do you realize that you are in space?

You won't miss this moment. First, 520 seconds of withdrawal, then the pushers of the third stage - pyrotechnics - work in such a way that you feel a heavy kick-blow on the back. You just can't miss it. Weightlessness appears abruptly: bang, the engines turned off, the third stage undocked and that's it - they flew.
How to explain what weightlessness is? Apart from parabolic flights in training aircraft, the closest resemblance is skydiving. And then the first few seconds, until the opening of the parachute. And there is a little something else - air flow, wind, load ...

What about scuba diving?

There, to a lesser extent. Gravity is still felt. In water, the ability to roll over as you like is simulated. But if in the “Orlan” [spacesuit] you were turned upside down in the hydro pool, then outwardly it seems like weightlessness, and the spacesuit is completely weightless - it does not float up and does not sink, but you understand that you are upside down. There, the state is different - it is called hydroweightlessness - the skills of orientation in space are practiced there, you can spin as you like. The most realistic effect is flying in a parabola.

How did the body react to weightlessness? How long did the adaptation take?

Everyone is different, but I was very lucky. Even before the first start, they told me: in no case do not look out the porthole of the ship. It is now that we fly quickly, but earlier we went into the spin of the ship - with batteries we were guided by the sun. The regime was called so: spins on the Sun. They flew so that the batteries were always deployed on sunny side. The rotation is quite intense - 12 degrees per second and the Coriolis force makes itself felt. It lasted for several hours, 3-4 times per flight. Now we fly without spinning, it’s simpler, easier, but the perception of weightlessness is purely individual, although we are all loaded with training in the same way. Now it's a Coriolis chair, there used to be a Hill swing... In general, there are many devices that will turn you inside out. There are beginners who at first could not stand even two minutes of rotation on the Coriolis chair, but you need at least 10. The “passing score” for beginners is 10-15 minutes. Before the flight, we spin for 25-30-40 minutes. Doctors say “Until you get bored”, but in fact, until the chair stops having any effect at all. It helps someone, someone does not, because there are other vestibular disorders in flight.

Those. in flight, problems with spinning on the Sun, and not actually with weightlessness?

No, vestibular disorders are not only due to twist. Particular problems arise when you move from a small volume of the ship to a large volume of the station. Here it already happens quite badly, because there is no feeling of up and down. The floor and ceiling are conditionally divided by color, but this does not help much.

How long did it take you to adapt? When did you realize that you feel confident at the station?

Probably a few days anyway. Since, in addition to vestibular sensations, there is also a redistribution of the so-called. hemodynamics. Redistribution of blood in the body. You can even see swelling of the face, swelling of the neck, because the blood rushes to the head. Our top part bodies on Earth are not subject to such influences, and this causes some discomfort - nasal congestion, swelling of the face ... But it disappears on 3-4-5 days. We also have means of prevention that we wear for the first week - medicine recommends. The costumes are special, which do not allow the muscles to relax. Load suit "Penguin", it looks like a regular flight suit, but it has a lot of rubber bands. They make the muscles of the back, thigh, lower leg, arms, shoulder girdle work. The whole body is covered. Such a suit is recommended to be worn at the beginning of the flight, but someone prefers to wear the entire flight - this is recommended. I wore it very little on the first flight, because. it was very hot, but not for long on other flights either.

Is there an addiction to the feeling of weightlessness? Is there a desire to repeat it again?

If someone easily tolerates it - of course there is, of course. It's like climbing a mountain once, and you are drawn to these mountains a hundred more times. As once I jumped out with a parachute, and I want to jump and jump. Or dived under the water and want to dive and dive (laughs). Of course it pulls. I remember in a month, in five-seven-eight days, when all sorts of back pains go away a little. You think "I would still fly."

They talk about such a habit when an astronaut can put a mug in the air.

Yes, it was like that for me, when I returned from the flight for the first time, I asked my wife for a glass of water, drank and let go of the glass, without any ulterior motives. And in flight just the same, earthly habits. He wrote something with a pen, put the pen on the table. I just looked back and she's gone. It is everywhere and everywhere.

How did you handle overload?

G-forces are quite calmly tolerated - this is a trainable thing - we fly on airplanes, spin in a centrifuge according to the launch-descent schedule.

Is the body ready?

There are regular overloads - these are 4.5-4.6 units. There are modes, they are also regular, but we try to avoid them - on an uncontrolled ballistic descent. There, the overloads are higher - 8.5-9 units.

Is there a difference in the sensations of G-force on takeoff and descent?

Of course, the modes are different. The rocket runs quite smoothly, picking up speed smoothly. At the stage of operation of the first stage, the overload is 1-1.5 units. By 25-30 seconds, it gradually increases, but when the stage is separated, it drops to almost zero. On the descent, the overload is higher.

About conception and childbirth in weightlessness

Tell us about any experiments on Mir or the ISS

We had tritons on Mir. Officially, they did not have nicknames, only one female we called Anyuta. They had colored beads attached to their paws and we distinguished them by color. Unfortunately, she died of heart failure. We had 14 of them. We brought them into orbit alive and healthy. But they were not lucky already on Earth. Tolya Solovyov and I did not have a very successful landing, we got into a terrible snowstorm on February 19th. A single helicopter of the commander of the air army flew behind us, along with the general. He took us away, and left everyone else: paratroopers, a team Maintenance. The frost was minus 18-19 degrees. By the time the rescue vehicles got to them… In general, our tritons simply froze in the descent vehicle, unfortunately.

But there were a lot of experiments. I worked on the French program a lot, there were very interesting biological experiments. There was such an experiment "Ferty", in translation it is "birth, conception", i.e. how it is born. Newts were also grown there, but at a completely different stage. They delivered eggs to the station, fry appeared from it, tadpoles from fry, tritons from tadpoles ... The task was to observe the development of eggs, and came to very deplorable results. There were a lot of defective divisions. Usually, all living things are divided in multiples: one egg is divided in half, then into four, eight, sixteen and off and on and on ... And there they caught a large percentage of the so-called. "pathological division", for example, was divided into two, and then not into four, but into three, or from four to five ... These are the things. So such wild exclamations, they say, let's send a married couple or some kind of couple somewhere into space and do the whole thing there, well, from a human point of view, this is nonsense. This is indeed the most complicated process not even the birth of a person, but his development, conception. All in all, I wouldn't risk it.

About sex

Is the process of conception in weightlessness possible? How is this function in general?

Absolutely real. I think that humanity can do this in general in any place. It seems to me. It's even easier there - and on the wall and on the ceiling you can, wherever you want. There would be a desire, but there is a desire.

Are there any problems in this area upon returning to Earth?

Well, I don't know, I don't think so. In any case, no one spoke about the problems. "Here, I flew in and everything is bad there" Just the opposite is noted. All is well with this case.

Those. wives are happy to return?

About sleep

There were several questions about sleep: firstly, are the dreams that you see on earth and in space different. And one such semi-mystical question: was it not such that all members of the crew, or several members of the crew, saw the same dream at the same time?

I don’t know, firstly, I didn’t sleep next to anyone, and ask what I’m dreaming of ... (laughs). Secondly, I don’t know, fortunately or unfortunately, I don’t have dreams on Earth at all. Well, maybe they dream, but I don't remember them. In the same way, they did not dream in space.

Enough is already known about how the dream is framed, about the sleeping bag there ...

Well, he sleeps ... He sleeps in general very badly and disgustingly, because in our segment it is quite noisy. 65-67 decibels. This noise is slightly less than inside the aircraft. Therefore, I can say about sleep, of course, it is worse than on Earth. I've always missed a pillow because my head is dangling in this sleeping bag. I made myself untyata [fur boots] instead of pillows. Turn them inside out. Which are fur, until they are worn, clean. Turn them out, insert one into the other, and it seems like a pillow.

Regarding the flashes in the eyes, is there such a thing when cosmic particles get into the pupils?

Is it at night? Or can it happen during the day too?

If the radiation is very powerful, then it can be seen even during the day, with normal light such a flash. It happens at night too. At night even sometimes you even wake up from it. That is, apparently, the dream is not very deep, and the flash ... It is very easy to lose orientation when you sleep. You just wake up, naturally in a sleeping bag, naturally the lights are off. Still, I always had the illusion that I sleep horizontally, that is, my vertical cabin, it seems to lie horizontally, or upside down. That is, I rarely had such a feeling that I sleep on the wall vertically, as I normally physically sleep.

About silence

Is the silence of space difficult to hear?

I only heard once when our control system was cut down on the World, and we generally fell ... That is, the station froze, the fans turned off, went to a minimum, that is, the voltage dropped below the minimum threshold, everything stopped for nothing, and the case began to creak, because it cools on one side and heats up on the other. This is what is called deathly silence (laughs). This is scary.

About the smell of space

About the smell at the station: If it is impossible to take a shower, but physical activity is mandatory, does the station smell like a gym?

It does not smell, because we have air purification systems that are three orders of magnitude better than in any gym. Everything is removed. Smells, ketones that can smell, or whatever. Of course, there is a specific smell at the station, because it is the smell of a car. As soon as you enter a new plane, it smells of anything there, insulation there ... Well, this is a normal smell ... No, no.

But about the smell of space, not so long ago they wrote that it smells of ozone, or the smell of welding, or something like that ...

Yes, it's burnt metal. Here is probably the closest comparison. If anyone was there at the metallurgical plants, where there is a blast furnace, there is such a smell. Is always.

When does it begin?

The ship docks, and when these seven tons ... in principle, we have a nest that holds it, it’s of this diameter (shows), and this front petal, on a retractable cord, it gets into the body and starts moving along it. The speeds there are not high, 12-15 centimeters per second, but, firstly, this is metal on metal, this is a vacuum, what we call cold welding friction. When it docks, goes into engagement, the hooks close, and then, when we start to inflate this cavity, air enters there, and naturally it starts to smell like this burnt metal. That's when they say "smell what space smells like", it really is like that.

So this is the real origin of this smell?

This is how I explain myself, because nothing else ...

And when a spacewalk in a spacesuit, through an airlock, is there this smell?

No, because we have oxygen inside. There is a smell when the return airlock is in progress, that is, it came back ... Yes, it is like that, it smells a little of ozone when our airlock compartment was blown, or the American one. And when you take off your spacesuit, this smell of freshness, ozone… there is something like that.

About space mutants

Regarding the biological hazard, about the fungi on the "Mir" they told ...

They are also on the ISS. We have such a doctor of science Novikova Natalya, and she is there some scary horrors says that yes, there are mutating fungi, but they are mostly brought from the Earth, and no matter how we process them, they survive. They are slightly different, but most importantly, no pathogenic fungi have ever been found there. That is, all the fungi that exist there, they are quite a large variety, we regularly take samples from the surface, from ventilation, from ourselves, all this is packed and sent to Earth, it is studied there, and so, no pathogenic things have ever been found there.

But were there any that were harmful to the station, for example, they destroyed plastic or some kind of coating?

There are such. But we have learned to deal with them in the sense that we came up with plastic that they do not eat. (laughs)

I even heard legends about aluminum ...

Yes there is. Well, it’s not even fungal, although it may be fungal lesions, but initially these are mechanical damages, and only then something starts to grow there. Or some kind of chemical damage. Canned urine was spilled, and there was acid ... Well, we had cases, but I never heard that it was something inexplicable AT ALL. Eventually, they got to it. But the fact that there is no pathogen there is the most important thing.

About the mustache

Does the mustache get in the way in space, and do you have to shave more often than usual?

More often - no, the mustache does not interfere, We get a haircut there once every three months, we have special machines connected to a vacuum cleaner so that nothing scatters. Immediately, all this is naturally sucked off, collected and that's it.

To be continued...

And a big thank you

Probably every school can be proud of its graduates. The school where I have had the honor to work for more than ten years is no exception (founded in 1975 in the peripheral district of Bibirevo, it used to have the number 180, and now it is called "School Multidisciplinary complex BIBIREVO" ).

And just the other day, one of these graduates of our school came to us from Star City to meet with his teachers and communicate with schoolchildren, to tell them about his work. And his profession is astronaut .
This is about cosmonaut №100 , who made three flights into space, spent almost a year on obrit (on the ISS) ( 360 days) and about 19 hours in open space, OLEG KOTOVE .

Unfortunately, the days when the name of every cosmonaut was on everyone's lips are long gone (although there are not so many of them now, only 116 human). But cosmonaut No. 100, Oleg Kotov, was certainly remembered by everyone, if only because it was he who, during his third flight, which took place from September 26, 2013 to March 11, 2014, took part in the Olympic relay race dedicated to the Winter Games in Sochi 2014, carrying the symbol of these games - the Olympic torch into outer space:

I bring to your attention the most interesting fragments from Oleg Kotov's answers to schoolchildren's questions and an interview with him, which the same schoolchildren, members of the student activist "The Fifth Element" took from a famous graduate of our school. Well, since, according to him, photography is one of the astronaut's hobbies, I hope you will be interested to see a large number of photographs taken by him and his crew members on the ISS.

Personal impressions

Since Oleg Kotov graduated from school No. 180 in 1982, I, of course, could not be his teacher, since he is five years older than me. But I had to deal with some famous people(I won’t name their names, because the post is not about that), after communicating with them, I didn’t have the most favorable impression of them: impressiveness, arrogance and other companions of individuals who, as they themselves believe, have achieved a lot in life, therefore look down on others like the gods of Olympus.
To be honest, I expected the same with fear from hero Russian Federation Oleg Kotov . But, fortunately, I was wrong.

Cosmonaut №100 , on the one hand, is similar to its official image (NASA photo) , on which he looks like an icon (official - he is also official in America):

But, on the other hand, he turned out to be more like the most ordinary person, and after talking with him, it became completely clear that despite all his undoubted merits to humanity, I don’t consider myself a cult character (if only I could learn from him many of ours " TV stars", which you can’t call otherwise than inflated bubbles!).

Well, now that same interview with Oleg Kotov.

Question:
- Tell me how to become an astronaut?

Oleg Kotov:
- There are no special educational institutions that train astronauts. Everyone comes to this profession from the most different areas activities, some of the engineers, some of the pilots, and some, like me, for example, from military doctors. At the same time, the main requirements are health and ...
- Professionalism? - Interrupting Kotov's answer, one of the students suggested.
- No, they didn't. First of all, you need to show your ability to learn, constantly show readiness to perceive new things and the ability to quickly respond in emergency situations that may arise at any moment. And professionalism comes by itself.
How does he come by himself?
- You see, at least 10 years pass from the moment of enrollment in the cosmonaut corps until the first flight. And all these 10 years you have to constantly study. And those who do not show the ability to learn, drop out. And even now, after I flew into space three times, I constantly have to learn something new. My life on Earth is a constant study, everything is on schedule.

Question:
- Are there many who want to become an astronaut now?

Oleg Kotov:
- No, not much. Now everyone has become very pragmatic. In 2012, I was the chairman of the commission for the recruitment of candidates for the cosmonaut corps. There were 8 vacancies. And imagine, a little more than 400 applications were received from all of Russia with a population of 150 million!

Many people think that becoming an astronaut is easy: a year or two of training, flight and the star of a Hero. No, at least ten years of grueling training, after which no one will give you a guarantee that it is you who will fly into space. Many people break down because they want to be astronauts after watching movies (like Gravity, for example), but being an astronaut (or astronaut) doesn't look much like what's shown in the movies.

Question:
- You flew into space three times, but you only have one Hero star. Why? After all, this was how they used to reward each space flight?

Oleg Kotov:
- I think that in two years, and maybe earlier, for space flights they will not give the title of "Hero of Russia" at all. Everything goes to ensure that the work of an astronaut is perceived precisely as work. Flew - returned, here's a cash prize!

Question:
- We were the first in space. Does Russia retain its leadership even now? Or are we not the first?

Oleg Kotov:
- No, we are not the first now. Now the Americans are in the lead.
How far behind are we?
- Very strong, for thirty years.
- Why?
- It is enough just to compare the budget of NASA with our Roskomsos to understand why.
- But we're still second?
- Yes, of course, we are the second.
- And who is behind us?
- The Chinese. But they licked everything from us, they have nothing of their own.
- So?
- And then no one.
- But what about, for example, the French, because they also have their own cosmodrome?
- Kuru? But there is no way to send manned ships. So it's really just us and the Americans.

Question:
- Don't the Americans understand that with their sanctions they impede the development of the space program on the ISS, because this is an international project?!

Oleg Kotov:
- Sanctions do not interfere with the ISS. But they greatly interfere with the development of our space program, which is not related to the ISS. The Americans do not want to interfere with what they already have and what they are successfully using, but they will never allow us to develop what we can compete with them.
They, having astronaut training centers that are much better than ours, invite potential astronauts from Japan, EU countries, Canada, etc. to use them, thereby "killing two birds with one stone": using, for example, Japanese technologies, they do not provide an opportunity other countries to develop their own space programs. So, it is difficult, if not impossible, to compete with the Americans in the "space race": everyone works for them.

Question:
- You were away from your family for a very long time during your three flights. Was there any opportunity to communicate with your loved ones while you were in orbit?

Oleg Kotov:
- Of course! Each of us on the ISS can call any number at any time. But this connection is one-way, I can call, but no one can call me. Very comfortably!

Question:
- Would you like to fly into space again? And is it scary? What is the fate of astronauts who no longer fly?

Oleg Kotov:
- Of course! I think that in 2018 my next flight will take place.
Is it scary? It's like who. I know that some cosmonauts who have been in orbit, after the first landing, leave the cosmonaut corps, saying that they will never sign up for it again.
As for the future fate, everything is different for everyone. Someone goes into science, teaches at universities, someone goes into business, and someone becomes an inveterate drunkard, alas, this happens. Our astronaut community is a cross section of our entire society...
But no one succeeds in returning to their former profession, qualifications are lost. After you have been an astronaut, it is unlikely that you will return to the profession of an engineer or a doctor again. It's just impossible! And if earlier it was possible to be listed in some bank as a "wedding general", now no one needs it. Well, astronaut, so what? Now professionals are needed everywhere!

We on the ISS fly over the Earth at a speed of 8 km per second, we see sunrise and sunset 16 times a day (there are many windows on the ISS). But in fact, we circle the Earth at an altitude of only 400 km. Do you think that's a lot? Imagine an apple and its peel. We fly in the skin of an earthly apple and nothing more ...

PHOTOS TAKEN ON THE ISS,

which Oleg Kotov presented to our school, and which I now show you. Comments on the photos also belong to their author - Oleg Kotov (I only reproduce them from memory).

1. Strips and hoses on spacesuits are always different color so as not to confuse who is who:

2. "We grow this not to eat, but for a scientific experiment":

3.

4.

5. This is what a private cabin looks like on the ISS.
You have to sleep in a special sleeping bag fastened with straps to the mounts. Otherwise, it's impossible.
Well, I mean, you can, of course. But if you don’t get attached, then there is an opportunity to fall asleep in one compartment of the ISS,
and wake up, unexpectedly for yourself, in a completely different way:

6. Moon over Earth:

7. If you do not constantly train, then the muscles in weightlessness can atrophy:

8.

9. Birthday on the ISS:

10. The international crew is not against "Russian pressed sturgeon caviar":

11.

12.

13. In outer space:

14.

15.

16.

17.

18. Volga Delta:

19.

20.

21.

22.

23. Smoking Volcano:

24. Processed fields:

25. MOSCOW!

26.

27.

28.

29. Kamchatka:

30.

31.

32.

33.

34. Northern Lights:

35. On the ISS, something constantly needs to be repaired.
One day the toilet broke. It was some kind of horror!
But you can’t call a plumber from the Earth! You have to do everything yourself:

36. Photographs of the Earth from the ISS are not made with simple "soap dishes".
You need at least 40-50x magnification.
Photographers, check out the camera lens held by Sergei Ryazansky,
crew member of Oleg Kotov during his third flight:

37. Getting a haircut in zero gravity is also not so easy,
To do this, you need to have a vacuum cleaner on hand:

38.

39. There are only devices around
(Soichi Noguchi - crew member of Kotov's second flight):

40.

41. The mascot of our astronaut is a cat in space!

42.

43.

44. Weightlessness:

45. Hello!

46.

47.

48. Guests arrived at the ISS:

49. Nile Delta:

50. This is all that remains of the Aral Sea:

51. Ants in Space:

52. Ordinary clothing on the ISS - T-shirt and shorts:

53. We remove the garbage.
Pay attention to cameras. Enviable, right?

54. New Year on the ISS
(from left to right: Michael Hopkins, Oleg Kotov, Sergey Ryazansky):

55. Christmas gifts:

56. Well, what about without a Christmas tree?
Nothing that she's upside down. Because the Christmas tree has no legs, and in space there is no up or down.

57. Pay attention to the photos: Korolev, Korolev and Gagarin, Gagarin:

58. Carnival mask?

59. Everyone knows that women even in space see everything upside down:

60. However, in space everything is upside down!

61. Solar battery repaired!

63. In outer space with the Olympic torch:

64.

65. How beautiful is our land!

Thank you for attention.
Serey Vorobyov.

All the pictures you see were taken Russian pilot-cosmonaut Oleg Kotov .
I earnestly ask in case of a repost, make a link to the author!

The new crew of the International space station(ISS), which will go into orbit on December 17, 2017 on the Soyuz spacecraft, is now completing exam training. The crew will complete pre-flight examination training on November 29. The commander of the new crew, Russian cosmonaut Anton SHKAPLEROV, spoke in an interview with TASS about weightlessness and the taste of orbital food, about the new spacesuit, the upcoming spacewalk under the Russian program in February, and the space "settlers" discovered at the station.

- Tell us about the mascot of the new crew.

Officially, it is called the indicator of weightlessness. Usually it is a small children's toy, and as a rule, it is chosen by the children of one of the crew members. My daughter is now in the fifth grade, and she is choosing a toy for the third time. It will be a small gray plush poodle - we just have the same one running around at home. Now the toy has been handed over to the epidemiologist. They will check it, and if they give me a certificate, I will take the poodle to Baikonur and, when I get on the ship and close the hatch, I will fix it on the hatch.

At the moment of launch, it will be stretched on a rope, that is, it will be clear that we are flying with acceleration. And when we get into weightlessness, it will begin to swim, and we will understand that we are already in space. We are rigidly drawn to our lodgements in the ship, and in the first moments we do not feel weightlessness at all, so we need such an indicator toy.

- What do you need today to become an astronaut, what are the requirements?

The main requirements are health, good physical form, education (preferably technical). It would also be nice to work in your industry for five years and somehow prove yourself: become a candidate of science, deal with some scientific topics, because the main objective human spaceflight is the execution of space experiments on the ISS.

What are the most difficult tests for astronauts during preparation for a flight? How many years do you have to wait for the first space flight?

On average, cosmonauts today wait six to nine years for their first flight. For example, I flew in the eighth year. I think this is normal, especially since I immediately flew as a crew commander and on a six-month mission.

And in the preparation of our lung is not enough. A lot of theory and various tests. We fly on airplanes, jump with parachutes, go under water - these are diving trainings with spacesuits, we train to survive in various climatic zones. We also have great amount other workouts.

How does a person feel weightlessness during space flight? How bad is he getting? How quickly do astronauts adapt to this?

Since I am a fighter pilot, my adaptation to weightlessness goes pretty quickly. How a person endures weightlessness depends on the specific organism - what is laid down for him by nature, as well as on how he is trained. There are people who tolerate it well, and there are people who do not. If a person does not get motion sickness when he flies on an airplane or travels by car for a long time, or walks on a ship, then he has a good vestibular apparatus in principle and is unlikely to experience strong discomfort in weightlessness.

If, nevertheless, he is motion sick, then in space he will feel bad, but only at first. I saw many cosmonauts and astronauts who were ill from weightlessness. However, after two weeks, even the most ill-prepared or genetically predisposed to motion sickness have time to adapt.

In addition to the vestibular apparatus in weightlessness, there is a problem with the redistribution of blood: when there is no gravity, our circulatory system works as usual for the first time, but then the distribution of blood occurs differently: all of it is collected in the upper body, as a result, in particular, blood pressure rises . Because of this, even outwardly, the astronauts at the station have slightly rounded faces, and their eyes are slightly screwed up. To imagine this, you need to stand upside down and go through the whole day like this, the sensations will be about the same. But the body gets used to it day by day.

In the first flight, my addiction was a little more difficult, and in the second it was already quite easy - both training, experience, and ordinary anti-sickness medications helped.

What kind sport exercises do astronauts necessarily perform in orbit? Maybe someone uses an individual training system?

There is basic exercises- This is an exercise bike, a treadmill. We also have a trainer assigned to each crew, who can slightly change the number of exercises or recommend some new exercises that are not included in the basic complex. He knows how we are prepared, knows the specifics of flights and is already individually developing exercises for us.

On the day in orbit, 2.5 hours are allotted for sports, and no one has the right to cancel them, since it directly depends on whether the astronaut returns healthy so that after rehabilitation he can continue to live normally. They can cancel the spacewalk, even sleep can be canceled, but physical education is hard.

some kind of preventive medical preparations astronauts in orbit use? For what?

The windows in the station have UV protection, and when the mission lasts a long time, vitamin D, which is produced under the action of solar radiation. In addition, food is canned - there are no fresh fruits and a number of vitamins are lacking. Therefore, we always use various vitamin supplements at the station.

We also periodically take tests right in orbit, and according to their results, the doctor on Earth who leads the crew can prescribe some drugs. Usually this is also a multivitamin.

- What does the diet of astronauts consist of? Is it delicious or so-so?

The diet is very diverse, it is prepared by the Russian side, and the European, and the American, and the Japanese. But all this, of course, is not fresh: either canned or reconstituted. After a month or two, all this becomes boring, and you don’t really want to eat anything, you don’t have an appetite as such: you open another box of food that would go well on Earth, you look at it and don’t want anything; Eat simply because you need to eat. Saving spices.

Goodies are sent by relatives, but there are not many of them - five kilograms of everything is supposed to be cosmonauts, and there is not only food. These parcels come with "Unions" and "Progress", there may be, for example, fresh apples, oranges, onions, garlic. But they don't last long.

- What do you especially want in orbit from food?

Yes, I want everything that is possible on Earth: fresh barbecue and borscht, herring under a fur coat or fried potatoes. The station lacks any normal food.

How do you feel when you find yourself under the influence of gravity on Earth again after a space flight?

In this situation, the blood, on the contrary, flows from the head and goes to the lower part of the body, the brain lacks oxygen. You may start to lose consciousness. In the first minutes on Earth, its enormous attraction is felt, it is hard to raise a hand, even the eyelids begin to close under their own weight. Therefore, we are carried in our arms, and we mostly spend the first days sitting and reclining. A lot of time is spent on the pool - the first stage of acute adaptation to gravity is easier there.

- How fast is the adaptation?

Here, as in the case of weightlessness, everything also depends on the person. The first stage comes in a few days, and so we have been in the dispensary for three weeks. In principle, when you can already stand on your own, they ask you to stand upright and stand for ten minutes; if possible, they can let them go home for the night under close supervision. If it gets worse, call the doctor.

But here, too, everything is individual - someone is released on the third day, someone after a week or even ten days.

- Are there any restrictions on the number of flights into orbit?

No, there are no restrictions, it all depends on the person and his health, but I have not yet heard of more than six flights.

An experiment to search for life on the outer skin of the ISS has been repeatedly reported. What is this experiment, what do the astronauts do during it? Where does life come from on the ISS skin?

There is such an experiment, it consists of several parts. Firstly, during the exit, special tablets are taken out and installed on the outer skin of the station. They contain various materials, which are now used in space and which in the future they want to use for the manufacture of spacecraft. These tablets have been out of the station for years. Through certain time we pick them up, deliver them to Earth, and specialists, scientists look at what is there.

Now they have found bacteria that lived there for three years on the surface in outer space, where the vacuum and temperature range from minus 150 to plus 150, and remained alive. Such experiments are called "Test" and "Bioisk".

In addition, during the exits, we take swabs from the outside of the station with cotton swabs. We are told from the Earth where to take a swab, for example, in a place where fuel waste is accumulated during engine operation, or in places where the surface of the station is darker, or, on the contrary, where sunlight hits more often. We also deliver these tampons to Earth.

And now it turned out that from somewhere on these tampons bacteria were found that were not there when the ISS module was launched. That is, they flew in from space from somewhere and settled on the outer side of the skin. While they are being studied, they do not seem to pose any danger.

- You have to perform a spacewalk during the flight. What is the planned program?

The main task of the exit is to change the electronic unit at the antenna of the Luch relay system. We have such satellite antenna in the Russian segment, which was delivered to the ISS along with the Zvezda service module during the station's assembly. Then it was assumed that in the near future there will be satellites-retransmitters "Luch" and through them we will have a direct connection with the Earth. But, unfortunately, these were the 2000s and funding was insufficient, satellites were not created.

This antenna has been idle in space for 17 years, and although it physically works, the element base is already outdated there. The satellites of the Luch system created today operate on a new element base. Therefore, in order for the entire relay system for the ISS to work, it is necessary to change the electronic unit on the antenna - the relay subscriber equipment.

The difficulty lies in the fact that when this service module with an antenna was launched, no one thought that this unit would have to be changed in space. Therefore, we have a very difficult and jewelry work ahead of us: we will have to unscrew dozens of bolts in the thick gloves of a spacesuit, dismantle the block and install a new one. Three types of tools have been invented for this. We will unscrew one, if it doesn’t work - the second, again no - the third. And earlier, during previous exits, no one tried to work in the place where the antenna is. I hope that we will do everything and our air-to-ground communication through the Luch relay system will work.

There are also additional works during this exit. In particular, it will be necessary, if there is enough time, to disconnect and dismantle the measuring units from the "Obstanovka" experiment with subsequent disposal by the method of discarding from the ISS, to take some samples from the station's casing.

Perhaps we will launch some microsatellites. They are launched in a certain direction by hands, and it is necessary that they do not rotate. My spacewalk is scheduled for February 2nd.

- How do you like the new suit?

Automatic temperature control was added to the new spacesuit - it's like climate control in cars. Previously, it was necessary to manually make it warmer or colder, depending on which side the station is on during the exit: on the sunny or shady side. Now this is all done by automation, which redistributes the water flows inside a special thermoregulating water suit that you wear under a spacesuit.

In the new suit, the material of the containment has changed - it seems to have become tougher, well, you need to go out and work, then I can draw a conclusion.

April 12 is World Aviation and Cosmonautics Day, dedicated to the first manned flight into space. On the eve of the holiday, The Village talked to the current Russian cosmonaut Oleg Artemiev, who maintains a popular Instagram blog from orbit under the nickname @olegmks. The interview took place in new version Direct Instagram, which officially launched on April 11: you can now send videos in private messages, which will self-delete after viewing.

- How can you describe the feeling of weightlessness in words?

This is the state of free flight, soaring. It is very closely associated with romance and pleasure. A person is happy in weightlessness, although it is very insidious.

- Did you dream of becoming an astronaut as a child?

Didn't dream. I dreamed of being a sailor, but it did not work out. Although astronautics is also a kind of navigation, only star navigation. I wanted to become a cosmonaut when I was a student at Bauman Moscow State Technical University, where I met with the flight director, cosmonaut Vladimir Solovyov. After her, many became infected with the idea of ​​becoming astronauts.

- Why did you become a blogger, do you like it?

The idea to share photos did not come to me. It was the usual task of Roskosmos, from the team that started working in 2014. On their instructions, I started both twitter and instagram. But I liked it. When I read the comments, I feel that doing social networks is very useful for those people who are interested in astronautics, it charges them with the idea of ​​​​flying into space. The more such people, the easier it is to fly into space later. An illustrative case: readers from a village far from the capitals wrote to me that, in addition to the AIDS Info newspaper, they now subscribe to the Cosmonautics News magazine, because they are subscribed to my Instagram and Twitter accounts.

While you are in space, it is not always possible to respond to all comments, because there are problems with the Internet. But even after returning to Earth, in fact, there is not enough time either. I usually try to set aside half an hour to an hour on Friday to answer questions.

- What skills acquired in orbit were useful at home?

Here it is exactly the opposite: the skills acquired on Earth will be very useful in space. For those who served in the army, lived in a hostel, of course, it is easier in space. Tolerance, benevolence, the ability to negotiate with people are acquired there - this will be very much needed in orbit. Of course, you also need the skills of working professions: the ability to repair something, be friends with technology, the ability to hold tools and work with them. In short, if a person can independently repair an apartment with his own hands, he will be comfortable even in space.

- Why do people fly into space now?

The purpose of space flights is to make our life on Earth more peaceful, cosy, comfortable, to discover new planets, spare planets for our Earth, to discover new worlds.

- Which is scarier - takeoff or landing?

Both launch and landing are one of the most important operations, or stages, of a space flight. It is sometimes believed that landing is more dangerous than starting. But all astronauts have different opinions on this matter. It seems to me that the start and landing are equivalent.

- How do you feel about emptiness in space and what scares you?

I respect the void in space. I'm trying to remember what scares me, but I can't remember anything. In fact, the astronauts' fear is knocked out even before the first flight at the stages of general space training and training. We have a special parachute training that allows you to act coolly in any extreme and extra-extreme situation.

- Do you have nightmares?

Nightmares as such were not dreamed of in space. But there's a recurring dream where you're flying on vacation (short vacation. - Approx. ed.) to Earth, and then it turns out that you are late for your rocket. Then, of course, you wake up very briskly.

- In an airplane, tomato juice tastes better than on the ground. Is there food that tastes better in zero gravity?

Yes, there is such a phenomenon in space. For example, cottage cheese with nuts. On the ISS, this is the real currency. Everyone loves him very much: both Russians and Americans. Even in space, very tasty cocoa. It ends the fastest.

- Where is it better - in space or on Earth?

It is better to work in space, but it is better to live on Earth. Ideally, if you fly into space in the morning to work, and in the evening return home to your family.

How is your relationship with your family going? How much time do you get to rest?

When you're in space, you can call once or twice by IP-telephony, once a week we have the possibility of a video conference for 15-20 minutes, we use a program like Skype. At this time, you can talk with your wife and child or with guests who come to our house especially for this. Such a video conference also happens with the Mission Control Center.

Our rest regime is as follows: eight and a half hours of sleep, and personal time is about one and a half to two hours a day. But this time we usually spend on extra work: experiments, maintenance. Time in space is very expensive, so you try to use it to the fullest for the good of the cause.

What time zone does the ISS operate in?

We live and work on Greenwich Mean Time, this is done on purpose to make it convenient and fair to work with the MCC in Korolev and Houston in America. Morning and day are determined by hours. Looking out the window, you can’t determine the time: we have day and shadow changing 16 times a day.

In space, you appreciate every second, even every millisecond. It flies very quickly if it is busy from morning to evening. As soon as there is time for doing nothing, time goes very slowly.

- And what is the most amazing item that people brought to the ISS?

Maybe it's musical instruments. There were quite a lot of them: flute, guitar, keyboards, harmonica. These are the most amazing things that help to live there.

- Do you think the Americans were on the moon?

Of course, the Americans were on the moon - for me there is no doubt about that.

- What is the best film about space.

One of the most worthy films is Gattaca. Another old Solaris, Clark's Odyssey. In fact, all films about space must be watched. All without exception.

Photo: Oleg Artemiev / Roscosmos

Even if you never dreamed of becoming an astronaut and you hardly find the North Star in the night sky, stories about space flights can have a magical effect. Firstly, listening to those who were in space, we seem to rise above the daily bustle ourselves, peer into the horizons scientific discoveries and look at humanity a little from the outside, trying to imagine what will happen to Homo sapiens in the future. Secondly, realizing that less than 600 people out of 7 billion of the Earth's population have been in space, it's hard not to think about their unique experience and not to ask the question: “What is it like there, in space? ..”

The answer to this question is easy to find in the memoirs of astronauts, and now also on YouTube channels, which are conducted literally from the International Space Station. Therefore, when we had the opportunity to interview Alexander Misurkin, we refrained from asking: “How is it? ..” - and talked with Alexander about his educational experience.

Alexander Misurkin

116th cosmonaut of Russia and 528th cosmonaut of the world. To date, he has made one space flight, which lasted 166 days, from March 29 to September 11, 2013. During the flight, he went out into outer space three times. Alexander Misurkin is a member of the Roscosmos cosmonaut corps, regularly takes part in scientific and popularization meetings dedicated to astronautics, personally leads the Vkontakte group "Cosmos: The Beginning of the Journey!" and your YouTube channel.

The usual average ... astronaut

You have said in other interviews that you have wanted to be an astronaut since childhood. What was the most difficult at each stage of moving towards the goal - at school, aviation school, cosmonaut training center? What did you have to overcome while studying?

Indeed, from childhood I dreamed of being an astronaut, I set myself such a goal somewhere around 11-12 years old. I studied at school-lyceum No. 1 named after. M.V. Lomonosov in Orel. Before high school, I was an A student without much effort. I had thoughts of leaving school after the ninth grade, but my classroom teacher Zoya Alekseevna convinced me to stay at school. It was a strong lyceum, and after the ninth grade it brought together motivated high school students from all schools in the city. The requirements there were very high, and from the level of an excellent student I suddenly found myself in a deep, deep middle.

Thus I felt for the first time that I had pride, and I remembered for the rest of my life that my own abilities were moderately average, that I was an absolutely average person.

But at the same time, all my preparations went quite smoothly, although at each stage I had to make an effort - after all, we all know about a fish that is not caught without difficulty.

I remember the moments when I was waiting for a new test, a new step, a new obstacle - and worried about it. For example, while waiting for the sound chamber at the Cosmonaut Training Center. There is such an examination, its purpose is to assess the neuropsychic stability of a person in conditions of isolation from outside world, continuous wakefulness (within 64 hours) and the performance of a given work. It is held once, and according to the results of its passage, you either remain in this game or not.

Of course, I was worried before going through it. Moreover, the stories of those who were already there were not very reassuring. But when it was left behind, I thought: why did I, in fact, worry? It turned out - surmountable.

- Do you have a favorite "space" subject - an academic discipline related to your profession?

If we are talking about a subject in the classical sense, “at the desk”, then this is space navigation and ballistics, which were read to us by Alexei Timofeevich Mitin (God grant him good health!) And speaking in general, SPPK (special parachute training for cosmonauts) is my favorite "lesson" in principle, as it helps to develop the qualities necessary for any man: courage, self-control, high level performance in stressful situation under severe time constraints.

In the memoirs of many astronauts, one can find lines that they had to learn new things all their lives. How long does it take to study at your job? What is the hardest thing for you to learn right now?

I can't say right now that I'm learning something new every day. In my case, it is about developing and maintaining skills: in order to constantly maintain qualifications, training is needed. These are the skills of working on various simulators - manual control space technology at different stages, work in the space station for maintenance of systems, work with the payload (performance of scientific tasks).

For example, there is such a training - manual descent control (RUS). It involves solving complex mathematical problems in real time under the influence of overloads. This has never happened in real life, but if a piece of descent control equipment fails, the crew can manually descend and land accurately. Going out for the first time for the exam before the first flight, I thought that I had already learned how to perform this task, but I successfully got a “deuce”. The next day I retaken it, but it was thanks to the deuce that I realized that I still did not understand one very important principle.

As for the second part of the question, now I am training as a crew commander, this is both a great responsibility and high confidence. It is this aspect that is the most difficult at the moment.

Hard in learning, easy in weightlessness?

- If we talk about training on simulators, does it happen that the crew does not complete the task and “dies”?

Naturally, when working on simulators, scenarios of emergency situations are played out. If we talk about the space station, then the most dangerous situations there are depressurization, fire and the release of ammonia from the thermal control system of the American segment into the atmosphere of the ISS (the probability of the latter is small, but still there, so we devote a lot of time to this training).

On the ship, too, there is enough. For example, one of the options for working out situations is a fire.

The three of you sit in volume phone booth in a fetal position, and suddenly all the remaining space between you and the console is filled with smoke ...

Transitions between the station and the ship can be played. For example, the station burned down, and you have to undock and fly away. In this case, you need to put on a spacesuit in a gas mask, then take off the gas mask, fasten the spacesuit ... Of course, the situations are not easy for the first time. But I don’t remember such cases when the crew “died”.

I think this is because each workout is preceded by a preparation stage: theoretical classes, practical work with instructors. As a result, in the process of training on simulators, we make mistakes that affect the optimality. For example, we save a smaller volume of the ISS from depressurization than we could. Or - the station burned down, but in the end you flew away, but you could put out the fire and stay.

But the learning process is never smooth. I once met interesting example in one article. It described how a young man rented a yacht, and when he returned it, he said that he had not put a single scratch on it. To which the owner of the yacht, an experienced sailor, replied: “Yes, everything is in order with you, but I think you have learned little. To become a real sailor, the captain must sink at least a couple of ships.

I believe that theory and practice in your work are as close as possible. But surely there is some kind of backlash between them. How different was what you studied at the Cosmonaut Training Center from what was actually waiting for you in space?

I am deeply grateful to my instructors at the Center for what they have given enough level knowledge that allowed me to engage in shipboard activities without any problems, even facing what was not in training.

There was a slight backlash in terms of the fullness of the simulators at that time - now the ISS simulators are much closer to reality in terms of computer network, for example, than it was during my preparation for the first flight. But the level of knowledge given to me allowed me to absolutely comfortably cope with this on board.

The most serious backlash, which I would call, is the factors of space flight, first of all, weightlessness. On Earth, it is impossible to model it perfectly. We are practicing spacewalks on a unique stand, in a hydro laboratory, and I did not expect that those operations that were not difficult at all there would raise questions in space. And so it happened.

For example, moving along a cargo boom is such a telescopic "fishing rod" for carrying cargo and astronauts from one place outer surface station to another. You can walk across it like a bridge.

If under water it was a matter of course, then in space the task turned out to be non-trivial. And I wrinkled all the wrinkles on my forehead, trying to understand: how to move?

Water stabilizes your position and the position of the cargo beam in space, it is an additional point of support. And in space, I understand that the arrow is not rigidly fixed, the device with which I must move has a large backlash, I am also not fixed. And I don’t understand how to turn all our oscillatory movements into translational movements in the direction I need.

After a while, I realized: I grabbed this arrow with my legs and crawled along it with a “caterpillar”. I don't know if this is true or not, but I was told that I was the second person to move across it in this way.

Team building for astronauts

You have been trained not only in Russia, but also abroad, and you can probably compare different approaches to learning. What do you think is the difference?

If you had asked me about this five years ago, I would have said for sure that there is a difference, you can feel it. My training here at home seems more fundamental to me: I was taught to understand the principles of various processes, understand what happens and why, and make decisions based on a fundamental basis. What I studied in other space agencies seemed more formalized and tied to step by step according to instructions.

But now I would not compare these types of training so categorically, because they have different tasks. We have three training levels: "specialist", "operator" and "user". If I am an expert on the Russian ship, then on most American systems I am only a user. But the amount of information and the amount of time for preparation that I was given at home and in foreign centers are incomparable.

It is impossible to give such a wide amount of knowledge in a small piece of time so that you understand the principle of building a system, what, why and how. And I like to understand exactly what is happening. I don't like to follow instructions without understanding why.

- Do you feel, working in international teams, that everyone went to different schools?

I think it's very subjective, I don't feel the difference. I am comfortable working with an international crew. Partly because during a space flight you may not meet with colleagues for days: one performs tasks in the Russian segment, the other in the American one. But we interact a lot in survival training during the preparation phase, and we don’t have any disagreements. Yes, and select astronauts people who are flexible enough to work in a team.

- And how do astronauts learn teamwork? Whether there is a special programs team building for astronauts?

I have no great experience participation in similar programs to compare what goes on for astronauts and for non-cosmonauts. But as part of my space activities, we had such a program, and I am sure that this is the most unique program in this direction that could be.

It was organized by specialists from the European Space Agency and took place in the caves of Sardinia in September 2014, for two weeks. In fact, it was a training in teamwork and leadership skills. We were 5 people: two flying astronauts, two not flying and one representative of the European Space Agency. We had to determine our own roles in the team, the commander could change at the request of the entire team only once. We descended into the cave to the place where the previous crews had reached, and then we went to the place where supposedly no one had gone before us. We faced engineering tasks - exploration of the space of the caves and advancement into its depths - and scientific ones - the study of local flora and fauna.

In addition, it was fraught with risk. It was an absolutely combat situation from the point of view of speleology, which required serious preparation and compliance with safety regulations.

All psychological factors converge - that in space, that in a cave. There is a stress factor - you are in an unfamiliar environment and are just learning how to live in it, how to behave. There is a tight filled work schedule, plus a closed team - you can’t run far in a cave.

From the point of view of psychology and team building, it was extremely interesting. There, for the only time in my life, I tried to keep a diary in order to analyze what was happening.

Before training, I could not even imagine that in two weeks I would discover a completely different side of the person who had been with me in space for four months before, and that we would become real friends. I have always believed that friendship is something that is laid down from childhood, as a student, but not in adulthood. This is an unforgettable, useful experience, for which I am very grateful to the organizers.

You have repeatedly noted how important it is for an astronaut to have a sense of humor. Please tell us how the astronauts joke with each other?

Yes, I think a sense of humor is one of the important qualities of an astronaut, from the point of view of the psychology of the life of a small group of people in a confined space under constant stress.

I prefer examples when astronauts joke not at each other, but for each other. This is a much friendlier display of a sense of humor.

For example, a case from my space flight. Our crew - Commander Pavel Vladimirovich Vinogradov, Chris Cassidy and myself - were preparing for the arrival of cosmonauts Fyodor Nikolayevich Yurchikhin, Luca Parmitano and Karen Nyberg to the ISS. As far as we knew, Luka always cut his hair bald. Chris Cassidy, in preparation for this meeting, took and also shaved his head to show how glad he was to see Luca. When Luka opened the hatch, he saw bald Chris and realized what was happening - it was very fun and cute. Then I noticed on the video that they look like brothers - except that Chris has an untanned head. It was friendly and warm.

Better to be on the frontiers of the unknown than in the archives of history

How, in your opinion, is it necessary now to increase the prestige of the astronaut profession? And what awaits this profession in the foreseeable future?

I don't think that all children should want to become astronauts. But, like any patriot in my field, I believe that prestige needs to be increased: I want to deal with the best of the best. I communicate with employees of other space agencies and see how many people want to become astronauts in Europe and America. I wish we had more of them too.

But at the same time, in my promotional activities, I focus on something else: you should strive to be realized in what you have the greatest inclination for. It is not necessary for everyone to dream about space. I think it is important to understand, to feel what activity you have a passion for, and to develop in this activity to “cosmic heights”.

I was recently lucky to attend a conference of the Russian-American Science Association (this is a community of Russian-speaking scientists living in the United States), and I felt the same way I see people feel when an astronaut comes to the outback. Why? Because I came into contact with people who stand at the frontier of human knowledge in their field. My passion is to reach frontiers where humanity has not yet been physically. On the Moon - it was, on Mars - not yet.

All my appeals on the Internet are aimed at preventing people from simply going with the flow: they don’t go to school just because it’s necessary, they don’t go to college because that’s the system.

You need to do all this with a burning heart in the direction that interests you. To be a doctor, a teacher is no less honorable than an astronaut.

I do not presume to judge the prospects of the profession, but I can express my wishes. I really hope that in the near future - while I'm still an active astronaut - we will outgrow low orbit and start flying beyond it. I have no doubt that humanity will settle down beyond the atmosphere.

Another question is where do we, I mean Russia, want to see ourselves in this process? At the turn of space knowledge or in history? I would like to be on the edge.

Photo in the design of the article: Alexander Misurkin