January 28, 2015 at 08:45Conversation with the astronaut: about fear, icons and subordination
We continue our interview with cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov. Today he will tell us about how cosmonauts live in orbit, how they get along in a confined space, and what inspires them to conquer space.
The meeting with Pavel Vladimirovich happened thanks to the organizers of the Irkutsk Robotics Festival Robosib . Questions were asked by LiveJournal users , Geektimes, and Vkontakte Open Space subscribers .
Earlier we learned the biomedical details of life in space , and today a conditional topic: “Psychology”.
About fear
In space, scary?
Firstly, it’s not scary. Who is scared, he does not fly. Secondly, what is “scary”? Scary - this is when you do not know, do not understand what to do. But, in fact, there really were cases when it became creepy. For example, in the first flight, when I was working in outer space, I hung my weekend halyards on a soft handrail ... But he turned out to be torn off. And out of the corner of my eye I watch how I have one file and the second flies away without knowing where. At that moment, everything became completely bad.
[ Pavel talks about his first exit when the crew of the Mir station had to eliminate the consequences of a collision of the Progress truck with the Spectrum module. The halyards attach astronauts to the station building. ]
But these are moments. If you sit and think about the two millimeters of aluminum shell that separates you from the vacuum, then flying does not make sense. This is already professional: is it scary for a pilot to raise a plane? Probably not. It becomes scary when the plane begins to break, fall, lose wings ...
If there are any instructions, in case the crew member has a panic or quarrel?
There is. We have big thick books, where the code of conduct for astronauts, the code of conduct for the crew, is written, and there you have it. What rights does the commander have, what can he do, up to physical impact.
That is, you can twist and lock in the toilet?
Yes. In the face can. That is, it is not so written there, loyally and legally streamlined, but the essence is this.
I heard a story, it seems, about the Canadian astronaut who was supposed to control the manipulator and hit the station building or something like that. In general, something happened there, he decided that the situation was hopeless, fell into a panic, almost cried, and refused to respond to any calls to him. Then he was simply locked in the place where he was sitting and the heating was turned off. When he began to freeze, he came to his senses and began to more adequately assess the situation.
Well, these are tales of course, we do not have such compartments, or rooms, where you can lock and lower the temperature, that is, refrigerators. He must have been upset. We had many cases of impact, the Canadian manipulator was hollowing at the station, not only Canadians, but also Americans. That is, this is a normal working environment. Well, it’s a shame, you’ll let some blunder occur. But I do not remember a single case when a person fell into a trance. Why for? Iron is iron.
About subordination
Is there a crew submission regulation? Is everything on the commander, or is there an opportunity to vote?
There are perfectly clearly defined functional responsibilities, not only of the commander, but of each crew member in general. We have the so-called responsible, or, as the Americans call, segment officers. They are responsible, for example, for the Russian segment, for the American segment. There is what the Americans again conditionally call ... we are responsible, the Americans have an officer, for example, a science. Of course, as in any complex system, functional responsibilities are defined, of course. But there are different commanders, there is a different style of crew management. I have always been of the opinion as a crew commander: I believe these people, with whom I work, with whom I flew. I know them not for half a year, and not for a year, we have already gone through everything we can, I know that everyone can, I think that the main thing for the commander is not to interfere with the crew. If you are sure of the carriage, then do not bother him. Of course there are situations in which you begin to intervene when you see that it is not that the wrong, not optimal decisions can be made. But then it can be at the level of clues, advice. Honestly, I have never in my two commanding expeditions had to knock my fist, scream tram-tararam, do it like this, and not otherwise. This has never happened. Yes, he advised something, but Petya, Manya, Sasha said there, let’s do it because it’s because of that. And there has never been any relationship, saying that you are inflating hazing. Therefore, I don’t know, maybe I was so lucky. I know that there were other crews, relations developed differently there, they were different ... for my two commander’s expeditions I have never had to bang my fist, scream tram-tararams, do so, and not otherwise. This has never happened. Yes, he advised something, but Petya, Manya, Sasha said there, let’s do it because it’s because of that. And there has never been any relationship, saying that you are inflating hazing. Therefore, I don’t know, maybe I was so lucky. I know that there were other crews, relations developed differently there, they were different ... for my two commander’s expeditions I have never had to bang my fist, scream tram-tararams, do so, and not otherwise. This has never happened. Yes, he advised something, but Petya, Manya, Sasha said there, let’s do it because it’s because of that. And there has never been any relationship, saying that you are inflating hazing. Therefore, I don’t know, maybe I was so lucky. I know that there were other crews, relations developed differently there, they were different ...
Although yes, here we had it, when Sasha Misurkin and I were returning, we had a failure to display the remote control, and in general there was a situation where I made a decision. Of course, I consulted with my flight engineer, quickly exchanged opinions, discussed, and I made a decision, alone, because according to our on-board documentation, he had to start doing the corresponding procedure for restarting the console processors, it was already a descent, an overload, it was clear that the ship is operating normally, it is controllable, the dynamics are as expected. Yes, we do not have a number of parameters on the remote, but there are parameters by which this dynamics could be controlled, and in principle we went against the instructions to what was written. And I made a decision - everything, do not touch anything, move on. And it was like that. But nothing of the kind: "don’t dare, don’t touch." I asked Sasha angular speeds, he says: "Commander, everything is normal." Overload? "Native, it’s going fine." Descent trajectory? "Yes, it is, within the corridor." Well, there’s nothing there. But I have this style of work, and I do not accept another.
I just did a lot of all kinds of flight matters related to the Buran, and, unfortunately, there were tragic examples of this, as I think, incorrect interaction with the crew. When the commander said, “Fuck you all, I’m the most important, the most intelligent here.” And in the end, people died, and so on. And there are a lot of such examples. This is what is called inconsistency of the crew’s actions, not even that of inconsistency, it’s the non-acceptance by the commander of his crew, and accordingly the crew of his commander. I think this is the most difficult and the worst.
You said, "people died in the case of Buran." Is it there during preparation or testing? Or what was there?
No, this is a different situation. It was a Tu-134, it flew to Arkhangelsk, not connected in any way with the Buranov program, it was just a crew that got into a situation where both the navigator and the co-pilot said one thing, and the commander said “no, I'm doing something else, because that I’m the eldest here, I’m smarter than you. ” That is, it was the human, psychological incompatibility of the crew, which led to a severe disaster, many people died. And, unfortunately, or fortunately, the commander who was responsible for this, he survived. Here is such a punishment in life.
Buranovskie guys, many died for various other reasons. This was in preparation. These were completely different people, they flew completely different programs.
About difficulties
What are the three most significant difficulties in a long flight? First comes the question of the complexity of the interaction in the confined space of several people, and, in principle, three significant difficulties. Are there any difficulties in psychological compatibility, or is it difficult to combat the desire for homemade potatoes with herring? ..
Well, these are not difficulties, I don’t know ... I find it difficult to single out any difficulties. Maybe I’m just so lucky in life, I had excellent crews, I never had communication difficulties, even when we flew the six of us last year ... I don’t know. And people don’t get bored, because the station is so big, everyone is busy with their own affairs. When Jeff Williams and I flew together for almost three months, at the same station, we did not see each other for hours. We had breakfast together in the morning, then flew to different ends of the station, then only by communication I “Ale, Jeff, where are you?”. "Yes, I'm here, alive and well, let's move on." That is, to say that you are so sick of it that I can’t see you - it wasn’t like that.
About leisure activities in orbit
What do you do in your free time? And is it there?
There is. If you are supposed to sleep 8 and a half hours, while you sleep 4, then 4 and a half hours - there is free time. In my opinion, on the second flight, we had a very interesting library on Mir, it’s simply phenomenal, and, frankly, it’s a pity that it wasn’t taken away, but burned. There, for example, were Vysotsky's copyrighted books. There were unique books. With signatures, autographs. Unfortunately, they burned out. Now of course there is such an abundance of information. You are loaded with terabytes of video, music, and books you want on a flight. Many in electronic form, but there are magazines that send, " Cosmonautics News", eg. Therefore, to be honest, I always had interests a little different, and in the second flight I took three books for myself, I just rubber them in my cabin: so I definitely read them, I think, and selected some films that I wanted look. For example, "Yesenin," when he just left. Jeff Williams and I then flew together, well, this Esenin, I don’t remember how many episodes there are, we watched him for a month and a half. There was simply no time. This was mainly done at dinner. When you sit, eat, then we had a huge TV, a display.
Speaking of magazines, which of the Russians are being transported to the station? I’ll then sell this information to the advertising department for many millions :)
Definitely, “Cosmonautics News” regularly arrives, “Russian Space”, “Popular Mechanics” came, I asked and sent,
That is, this is not some kind of subscription, but all at will?
Yes, all at will, there is a special crew psychological support service, in the MCC it is engaged in this. Some newspapers sent me from Chukotka, “Chukotka Sever”, somehow like that.
That is, constantly only the “Russian Cosmos” and “Cosmonautics News”, and all the rest is that…
Constantly, probably yes, there may be some other magazines ... In my opinion, “Around the World” came to us, but this is what you ask - they bring it.
About science fiction.
Do you read science fiction, if so, which, if not, which books do you prefer?
Honestly, the age is probably different, because I stopped reading science fiction, probably at 18–19, just because they appeared ... Yes, nothing good appeared, but to read all the whitewash like transformation-retransformation of human individuals somewhere near the star ... I don’t know . I was fascinated by science fiction at the Belyaev level, which could make me think with my brains. Today's, today’s, it’s not even fantasy, it’s already fantasy, and it’s completely at the level of half-schizophrenia. I don’t know, it occupies people, it does not occupy me a drop. What am I reading? .. Yes, now I delve more into some things related to history, maybe the history of Russia, the history of Rome ...
Are these scientific books, or fiction?
And art. Artistic good ... Probably 50/50. Psychology, in such a professional way, is very interested in the relationships of small groups ... Even Freud somehow revered, I really liked, just a phenomenal man (laughs). Somehow I was always skeptical about semi-philosophical comrades, but here I like it. I like something that takes somehow brains, not just for you to read, to consume, just to chew this stuffing and it will go nowhere. When you read, and nothing is left in your brain, either inside, or in your soul, if it does not touch you, but books, fantasy, somehow do not really touch you.
About space inspiration
Continuing the theme of science fiction and its reading, did science fiction somehow influence the desire to become an astronaut, or the desire to work with space? And the second question, when you went into space, did you feel any difference between what was expected and what appeared, what became in reality?
Real space is an order of magnitude better and more beautiful than any fantasy (laughs). I don’t know, I can’t say that some kind of fiction influenced me so that I was eager for astronauts, probably not. It’s just that when I was growing up as a boy, Gagarin, Titov, Komarov flew ... What can I say. 71st year, Dobrovolsky, Volkov, Patsaev, but I just go to college. Of course, this is not science fiction; it was a completely different life.
Was reality worse than fiction?
Yes. I always liked to do engineering, I always did missiles. As a child, he let them out in hundreds of pieces, it was interesting to me. Grew up at the airport, so aviation, maybe not the first, second love. He wanted to be a pilot, but it happened, he came to the commission, got sick and they said to me: “Guy, do not be a miracle, go to another institute, now while you're sick and go to the army, in August-September. Go to another institute. So I did not manage to become a pilot. Therefore, I can’t say that I have read fiction and went to the spaceport.
You can understand, then astronautics was at the peak of popularity.
About pride
Here is a psychological-philosophical question: During the flight, is pride for humanity, or pride for one’s country, felt?
I don’t know, I never felt (laughs). No, probably both. Because when the President of Russia congratulates you on April 12, or the birthday, he gets in touch, “Pavel Vladimirovich, tram-tararam, thank you for your crew ...” Or when Patriarch Alexy arrives on Easter, I never had to talk to him in my life, and here he talked with us for forty minutes. Just getting into this person. Or, I don’t know, the American President congratulated ... Well, such a level. Angela Merkel “Hi guys, you know, I don’t want to talk to you as chancellor, I'm an astrophysicist! I'm a physicist, well, tell me how it is ... "Of course, pride! Pride in myself, that the presidents are talking there, or pride in the country, that even Merkel said, “Guys, I'm so proud that I’m here on the same screen with you.” And she was there on a huge screen - half of her, our half (laughs). Here. Of course pride in the country, and partly for myself of course.
That is, somehow humanity, in principle, doesn’t feel this, that like all globally, humanity?
No, you start to perceive everything there differently, because you don’t see borders, you don’t see anything. And when you look, you think, “Lord, what is there to divide? Iraq, Iran, Kuwait ... Guys, we’ll fly you normally, 10 seconds. And you have been fighting there for years. What to share? There is nothing to share. ” I know with my finger, with a little finger you cover the porthole, and this Kuwait is not visible there. That is, this is a different understanding. In general, space, life, the Earth seems so tiny so I don’t know. Well, in general, until something serious falls on his head, some other Yucatan will happen in America, then everyone will immediately become brothers and sisters.
About icons
Concerning Christianity and Orthodoxy, they asked why the icons were in orbit, and the second question, how do you feel about the consecration of a rocket?
I do not belong in any way. I am not a religious person, although my grandmother once baptized me in secret from my parents, in infancy. Because dad worked in party bodies, he served in SMERSH before that. What religion is there? No. I don’t know, I am very tolerant of this, I believe that if it helps a person at least somehow, to live in peace, in peace, I generally do not mind, I am for it. I don’t know that the icons are there, I take it calmly. But there are some things there, for example, when Tolya Solovyov and I started, there was a terrible war in the Balkans, and the Patriarch handed us a golden cross, he, in my opinion, is still flying, consecrated. And a small icon, in my opinion, of Our Lady of Sofia, who was the patroness of the Balkans, she always bred these wars. Well, while this icon flew with us, all the Balkan wars ended. Is that a coincidence? Maybe a coincidence. I am completely calm about this. We have a certain regulation that says that you don’t have to stick out any religion ...
About business
Another question is about business: Have the contracts stipulated a ban on the sale of things and personal items that have traveled to space?
Forbidden categorically. We are not doing this.
That is, no commerce, under any circumstances?
Earlier, once upon a time, we typed in 100, 200, 500 envelopes, then sold them for a few dollars ... Now it’s all spelled out in the manifesto that everyone signs. The list of things is quite limited. It says that you can have 10 or 15 envelopes for personal correspondence, there is no business permitted, from the point of view of selling and reselling personal items from space. I have several flight overalls in which I returned, and which were returned to me. But never even thought there was something to sell. One in one museum, the other in another.
About life after space
What do astronauts do between flights?
If a person remains an active astronaut after a flight, then, as a rule, these are long reports. Then the medicine goes there, the first 30 days, then 60, 90, 180 ... Some holidays are spent on holidays. After that, he gets up again in the preparation program. If not in an active crew for training, then there are a lot of things to do, a lot of trips, invitations, schools, universities, it's just operational work at the Flight Control Center. This is the support of the training crews in training, this is participation in the crews, well, of such conditional crews, of the youth who are preparing as part of groups, or as part of general space training. This is parachuting, special parachute training. Every year is survival here and there, when an experienced person and a couple of inexperienced people go. Some kind of scientific work. Maintenance of all operational work in the MCC.
Well, this is if you want. If not, like some, they arrived, they got everything they needed, they said thanks, at best they didn’t slam the door, and went, for example, to a bank, or to an oil company.
Those. do they leave the cosmonaut corps?
Yes.
But trips to universities and schools. In schools, it’s clear that there’s rather a popularization, a story about what space is, and in universities is it more about education or popularization?
I think that it is more educational, because more or less serious are already lectures, speeches.
That is, specialized universities get?
Yes. There are dozens of such invitations. Unfortunately, one really has to refuse often. Because there are just a lot of them. Well, that’s part of the job.
How to become an astronaut
What advise a young man to become an astronaut? Where to go, whom to study?
I don’t know where to go, to study. Which is more like.
This is understandable, but having unlearned as a journalist, probably, there will hardly be a chance to get into space?
No, definitely need a pretty good engineering background. Because the requirements are quite high. Of course, you can memorize something, but from this the head is better, does not become brighter. Therefore, technical training is desirable. Why technical? Well, for example, here we have Seryozha Ryazansky - brilliantly, perfectly flew. Biologist. Moscow State University. Well, brains ... He is not a pure biologist, there is technology, medicine, and all that. Oleg Kotov- his commander, in general, graduated from the medical academy, military doctor, then graduated from the flight school. Received a pilot’s diploma. He graduated from another institute, received an engineering degree, so ... Well, probably these are flying specialties, one way or another connected, and technical: these are computer matters, and electronic engineers, physicists, and mathematicians. Here is such a direction.
About the most important
Why do cats not fly into space?
Sorry for the cats! (laughs)
They say that they have problems with the vestibular apparatus, dogs can, but cats do not.
Cats fly in zero gravity on short flights, apparently they are arranged differently, they have a complex vestibular system. The cat from which floor do not drop, spin-twist, it is always stabilized in flight, feet down. And in zero gravity, it seems impossible to do this.
To be continued ...
Photo from the Facebook page of Pavel Vinogradov . There are still many cosmic beauty in the albums.
Thanks to Ilya Gusev and Yaroslav Veremenko for their help in preparing the text.
The meeting with Pavel Vladimirovich happened thanks to the organizers of the Irkutsk Robotics Festival Robosib . Questions were asked by LiveJournal users , Geektimes, and Vkontakte Open Space subscribers .
Earlier we learned the biomedical details of life in space , and today a conditional topic: “Psychology”.
A little about Pavel Vladimirovich
Pavel Vladimirovich has three space expeditions on his account: one on the Mir in 1997, and two on the ISS in 2006 and 2013. In outer space, the astronaut worked for more than 38 hours, for 7 exits, including taking part in eliminating the consequences of the collision of the Progress spacecraft with the Mir station in 1997.
Prior to joining the cosmonaut corps, NPO Energia, Pavel was engaged in automated systems and the interaction of crews with them, and participated, in particular, in the Buran project.
The accumulated experience and knowledge over the 34 years of work of Pavel Vinogradov in the space industry is invaluable to the young generation of space enthusiasts and everyone who decides to connect their lives with the conquest of the universe.
Prior to joining the cosmonaut corps, NPO Energia, Pavel was engaged in automated systems and the interaction of crews with them, and participated, in particular, in the Buran project.
The accumulated experience and knowledge over the 34 years of work of Pavel Vinogradov in the space industry is invaluable to the young generation of space enthusiasts and everyone who decides to connect their lives with the conquest of the universe.
About fear
In space, scary?
Firstly, it’s not scary. Who is scared, he does not fly. Secondly, what is “scary”? Scary - this is when you do not know, do not understand what to do. But, in fact, there really were cases when it became creepy. For example, in the first flight, when I was working in outer space, I hung my weekend halyards on a soft handrail ... But he turned out to be torn off. And out of the corner of my eye I watch how I have one file and the second flies away without knowing where. At that moment, everything became completely bad.
[ Pavel talks about his first exit when the crew of the Mir station had to eliminate the consequences of a collision of the Progress truck with the Spectrum module. The halyards attach astronauts to the station building. ]
But these are moments. If you sit and think about the two millimeters of aluminum shell that separates you from the vacuum, then flying does not make sense. This is already professional: is it scary for a pilot to raise a plane? Probably not. It becomes scary when the plane begins to break, fall, lose wings ...
If there are any instructions, in case the crew member has a panic or quarrel?
There is. We have big thick books, where the code of conduct for astronauts, the code of conduct for the crew, is written, and there you have it. What rights does the commander have, what can he do, up to physical impact.
That is, you can twist and lock in the toilet?
Yes. In the face can. That is, it is not so written there, loyally and legally streamlined, but the essence is this.
I heard a story, it seems, about the Canadian astronaut who was supposed to control the manipulator and hit the station building or something like that. In general, something happened there, he decided that the situation was hopeless, fell into a panic, almost cried, and refused to respond to any calls to him. Then he was simply locked in the place where he was sitting and the heating was turned off. When he began to freeze, he came to his senses and began to more adequately assess the situation.
Well, these are tales of course, we do not have such compartments, or rooms, where you can lock and lower the temperature, that is, refrigerators. He must have been upset. We had many cases of impact, the Canadian manipulator was hollowing at the station, not only Canadians, but also Americans. That is, this is a normal working environment. Well, it’s a shame, you’ll let some blunder occur. But I do not remember a single case when a person fell into a trance. Why for? Iron is iron.
About subordination
Is there a crew submission regulation? Is everything on the commander, or is there an opportunity to vote?
There are perfectly clearly defined functional responsibilities, not only of the commander, but of each crew member in general. We have the so-called responsible, or, as the Americans call, segment officers. They are responsible, for example, for the Russian segment, for the American segment. There is what the Americans again conditionally call ... we are responsible, the Americans have an officer, for example, a science. Of course, as in any complex system, functional responsibilities are defined, of course. But there are different commanders, there is a different style of crew management. I have always been of the opinion as a crew commander: I believe these people, with whom I work, with whom I flew. I know them not for half a year, and not for a year, we have already gone through everything we can, I know that everyone can, I think that the main thing for the commander is not to interfere with the crew. If you are sure of the carriage, then do not bother him. Of course there are situations in which you begin to intervene when you see that it is not that the wrong, not optimal decisions can be made. But then it can be at the level of clues, advice. Honestly, I have never in my two commanding expeditions had to knock my fist, scream tram-tararam, do it like this, and not otherwise. This has never happened. Yes, he advised something, but Petya, Manya, Sasha said there, let’s do it because it’s because of that. And there has never been any relationship, saying that you are inflating hazing. Therefore, I don’t know, maybe I was so lucky. I know that there were other crews, relations developed differently there, they were different ... for my two commander’s expeditions I have never had to bang my fist, scream tram-tararams, do so, and not otherwise. This has never happened. Yes, he advised something, but Petya, Manya, Sasha said there, let’s do it because it’s because of that. And there has never been any relationship, saying that you are inflating hazing. Therefore, I don’t know, maybe I was so lucky. I know that there were other crews, relations developed differently there, they were different ... for my two commander’s expeditions I have never had to bang my fist, scream tram-tararams, do so, and not otherwise. This has never happened. Yes, he advised something, but Petya, Manya, Sasha said there, let’s do it because it’s because of that. And there has never been any relationship, saying that you are inflating hazing. Therefore, I don’t know, maybe I was so lucky. I know that there were other crews, relations developed differently there, they were different ...
Although yes, here we had it, when Sasha Misurkin and I were returning, we had a failure to display the remote control, and in general there was a situation where I made a decision. Of course, I consulted with my flight engineer, quickly exchanged opinions, discussed, and I made a decision, alone, because according to our on-board documentation, he had to start doing the corresponding procedure for restarting the console processors, it was already a descent, an overload, it was clear that the ship is operating normally, it is controllable, the dynamics are as expected. Yes, we do not have a number of parameters on the remote, but there are parameters by which this dynamics could be controlled, and in principle we went against the instructions to what was written. And I made a decision - everything, do not touch anything, move on. And it was like that. But nothing of the kind: "don’t dare, don’t touch." I asked Sasha angular speeds, he says: "Commander, everything is normal." Overload? "Native, it’s going fine." Descent trajectory? "Yes, it is, within the corridor." Well, there’s nothing there. But I have this style of work, and I do not accept another.
I just did a lot of all kinds of flight matters related to the Buran, and, unfortunately, there were tragic examples of this, as I think, incorrect interaction with the crew. When the commander said, “Fuck you all, I’m the most important, the most intelligent here.” And in the end, people died, and so on. And there are a lot of such examples. This is what is called inconsistency of the crew’s actions, not even that of inconsistency, it’s the non-acceptance by the commander of his crew, and accordingly the crew of his commander. I think this is the most difficult and the worst.
You said, "people died in the case of Buran." Is it there during preparation or testing? Or what was there?
No, this is a different situation. It was a Tu-134, it flew to Arkhangelsk, not connected in any way with the Buranov program, it was just a crew that got into a situation where both the navigator and the co-pilot said one thing, and the commander said “no, I'm doing something else, because that I’m the eldest here, I’m smarter than you. ” That is, it was the human, psychological incompatibility of the crew, which led to a severe disaster, many people died. And, unfortunately, or fortunately, the commander who was responsible for this, he survived. Here is such a punishment in life.
Buranovskie guys, many died for various other reasons. This was in preparation. These were completely different people, they flew completely different programs.
About difficulties
What are the three most significant difficulties in a long flight? First comes the question of the complexity of the interaction in the confined space of several people, and, in principle, three significant difficulties. Are there any difficulties in psychological compatibility, or is it difficult to combat the desire for homemade potatoes with herring? ..
Well, these are not difficulties, I don’t know ... I find it difficult to single out any difficulties. Maybe I’m just so lucky in life, I had excellent crews, I never had communication difficulties, even when we flew the six of us last year ... I don’t know. And people don’t get bored, because the station is so big, everyone is busy with their own affairs. When Jeff Williams and I flew together for almost three months, at the same station, we did not see each other for hours. We had breakfast together in the morning, then flew to different ends of the station, then only by communication I “Ale, Jeff, where are you?”. "Yes, I'm here, alive and well, let's move on." That is, to say that you are so sick of it that I can’t see you - it wasn’t like that.
About leisure activities in orbit
What do you do in your free time? And is it there?
There is. If you are supposed to sleep 8 and a half hours, while you sleep 4, then 4 and a half hours - there is free time. In my opinion, on the second flight, we had a very interesting library on Mir, it’s simply phenomenal, and, frankly, it’s a pity that it wasn’t taken away, but burned. There, for example, were Vysotsky's copyrighted books. There were unique books. With signatures, autographs. Unfortunately, they burned out. Now of course there is such an abundance of information. You are loaded with terabytes of video, music, and books you want on a flight. Many in electronic form, but there are magazines that send, " Cosmonautics News", eg. Therefore, to be honest, I always had interests a little different, and in the second flight I took three books for myself, I just rubber them in my cabin: so I definitely read them, I think, and selected some films that I wanted look. For example, "Yesenin," when he just left. Jeff Williams and I then flew together, well, this Esenin, I don’t remember how many episodes there are, we watched him for a month and a half. There was simply no time. This was mainly done at dinner. When you sit, eat, then we had a huge TV, a display.
Speaking of magazines, which of the Russians are being transported to the station? I’ll then sell this information to the advertising department for many millions :)
Definitely, “Cosmonautics News” regularly arrives, “Russian Space”, “Popular Mechanics” came, I asked and sent,
That is, this is not some kind of subscription, but all at will?
Yes, all at will, there is a special crew psychological support service, in the MCC it is engaged in this. Some newspapers sent me from Chukotka, “Chukotka Sever”, somehow like that.
That is, constantly only the “Russian Cosmos” and “Cosmonautics News”, and all the rest is that…
Constantly, probably yes, there may be some other magazines ... In my opinion, “Around the World” came to us, but this is what you ask - they bring it.
About science fiction.
Do you read science fiction, if so, which, if not, which books do you prefer?
Honestly, the age is probably different, because I stopped reading science fiction, probably at 18–19, just because they appeared ... Yes, nothing good appeared, but to read all the whitewash like transformation-retransformation of human individuals somewhere near the star ... I don’t know . I was fascinated by science fiction at the Belyaev level, which could make me think with my brains. Today's, today’s, it’s not even fantasy, it’s already fantasy, and it’s completely at the level of half-schizophrenia. I don’t know, it occupies people, it does not occupy me a drop. What am I reading? .. Yes, now I delve more into some things related to history, maybe the history of Russia, the history of Rome ...
Are these scientific books, or fiction?
And art. Artistic good ... Probably 50/50. Psychology, in such a professional way, is very interested in the relationships of small groups ... Even Freud somehow revered, I really liked, just a phenomenal man (laughs). Somehow I was always skeptical about semi-philosophical comrades, but here I like it. I like something that takes somehow brains, not just for you to read, to consume, just to chew this stuffing and it will go nowhere. When you read, and nothing is left in your brain, either inside, or in your soul, if it does not touch you, but books, fantasy, somehow do not really touch you.
About space inspiration
Continuing the theme of science fiction and its reading, did science fiction somehow influence the desire to become an astronaut, or the desire to work with space? And the second question, when you went into space, did you feel any difference between what was expected and what appeared, what became in reality?
Real space is an order of magnitude better and more beautiful than any fantasy (laughs). I don’t know, I can’t say that some kind of fiction influenced me so that I was eager for astronauts, probably not. It’s just that when I was growing up as a boy, Gagarin, Titov, Komarov flew ... What can I say. 71st year, Dobrovolsky, Volkov, Patsaev, but I just go to college. Of course, this is not science fiction; it was a completely different life.
Was reality worse than fiction?
Yes. I always liked to do engineering, I always did missiles. As a child, he let them out in hundreds of pieces, it was interesting to me. Grew up at the airport, so aviation, maybe not the first, second love. He wanted to be a pilot, but it happened, he came to the commission, got sick and they said to me: “Guy, do not be a miracle, go to another institute, now while you're sick and go to the army, in August-September. Go to another institute. So I did not manage to become a pilot. Therefore, I can’t say that I have read fiction and went to the spaceport.
You can understand, then astronautics was at the peak of popularity.
About pride
Here is a psychological-philosophical question: During the flight, is pride for humanity, or pride for one’s country, felt?
I don’t know, I never felt (laughs). No, probably both. Because when the President of Russia congratulates you on April 12, or the birthday, he gets in touch, “Pavel Vladimirovich, tram-tararam, thank you for your crew ...” Or when Patriarch Alexy arrives on Easter, I never had to talk to him in my life, and here he talked with us for forty minutes. Just getting into this person. Or, I don’t know, the American President congratulated ... Well, such a level. Angela Merkel “Hi guys, you know, I don’t want to talk to you as chancellor, I'm an astrophysicist! I'm a physicist, well, tell me how it is ... "Of course, pride! Pride in myself, that the presidents are talking there, or pride in the country, that even Merkel said, “Guys, I'm so proud that I’m here on the same screen with you.” And she was there on a huge screen - half of her, our half (laughs). Here. Of course pride in the country, and partly for myself of course.
That is, somehow humanity, in principle, doesn’t feel this, that like all globally, humanity?
No, you start to perceive everything there differently, because you don’t see borders, you don’t see anything. And when you look, you think, “Lord, what is there to divide? Iraq, Iran, Kuwait ... Guys, we’ll fly you normally, 10 seconds. And you have been fighting there for years. What to share? There is nothing to share. ” I know with my finger, with a little finger you cover the porthole, and this Kuwait is not visible there. That is, this is a different understanding. In general, space, life, the Earth seems so tiny so I don’t know. Well, in general, until something serious falls on his head, some other Yucatan will happen in America, then everyone will immediately become brothers and sisters.
About icons
Concerning Christianity and Orthodoxy, they asked why the icons were in orbit, and the second question, how do you feel about the consecration of a rocket?
I do not belong in any way. I am not a religious person, although my grandmother once baptized me in secret from my parents, in infancy. Because dad worked in party bodies, he served in SMERSH before that. What religion is there? No. I don’t know, I am very tolerant of this, I believe that if it helps a person at least somehow, to live in peace, in peace, I generally do not mind, I am for it. I don’t know that the icons are there, I take it calmly. But there are some things there, for example, when Tolya Solovyov and I started, there was a terrible war in the Balkans, and the Patriarch handed us a golden cross, he, in my opinion, is still flying, consecrated. And a small icon, in my opinion, of Our Lady of Sofia, who was the patroness of the Balkans, she always bred these wars. Well, while this icon flew with us, all the Balkan wars ended. Is that a coincidence? Maybe a coincidence. I am completely calm about this. We have a certain regulation that says that you don’t have to stick out any religion ...
About business
Another question is about business: Have the contracts stipulated a ban on the sale of things and personal items that have traveled to space?
Forbidden categorically. We are not doing this.
That is, no commerce, under any circumstances?
Earlier, once upon a time, we typed in 100, 200, 500 envelopes, then sold them for a few dollars ... Now it’s all spelled out in the manifesto that everyone signs. The list of things is quite limited. It says that you can have 10 or 15 envelopes for personal correspondence, there is no business permitted, from the point of view of selling and reselling personal items from space. I have several flight overalls in which I returned, and which were returned to me. But never even thought there was something to sell. One in one museum, the other in another.
About life after space
What do astronauts do between flights?
If a person remains an active astronaut after a flight, then, as a rule, these are long reports. Then the medicine goes there, the first 30 days, then 60, 90, 180 ... Some holidays are spent on holidays. After that, he gets up again in the preparation program. If not in an active crew for training, then there are a lot of things to do, a lot of trips, invitations, schools, universities, it's just operational work at the Flight Control Center. This is the support of the training crews in training, this is participation in the crews, well, of such conditional crews, of the youth who are preparing as part of groups, or as part of general space training. This is parachuting, special parachute training. Every year is survival here and there, when an experienced person and a couple of inexperienced people go. Some kind of scientific work. Maintenance of all operational work in the MCC.
Well, this is if you want. If not, like some, they arrived, they got everything they needed, they said thanks, at best they didn’t slam the door, and went, for example, to a bank, or to an oil company.
Those. do they leave the cosmonaut corps?
Yes.
But trips to universities and schools. In schools, it’s clear that there’s rather a popularization, a story about what space is, and in universities is it more about education or popularization?
I think that it is more educational, because more or less serious are already lectures, speeches.
That is, specialized universities get?
Yes. There are dozens of such invitations. Unfortunately, one really has to refuse often. Because there are just a lot of them. Well, that’s part of the job.
How to become an astronaut
What advise a young man to become an astronaut? Where to go, whom to study?
I don’t know where to go, to study. Which is more like.
This is understandable, but having unlearned as a journalist, probably, there will hardly be a chance to get into space?
No, definitely need a pretty good engineering background. Because the requirements are quite high. Of course, you can memorize something, but from this the head is better, does not become brighter. Therefore, technical training is desirable. Why technical? Well, for example, here we have Seryozha Ryazansky - brilliantly, perfectly flew. Biologist. Moscow State University. Well, brains ... He is not a pure biologist, there is technology, medicine, and all that. Oleg Kotov- his commander, in general, graduated from the medical academy, military doctor, then graduated from the flight school. Received a pilot’s diploma. He graduated from another institute, received an engineering degree, so ... Well, probably these are flying specialties, one way or another connected, and technical: these are computer matters, and electronic engineers, physicists, and mathematicians. Here is such a direction.
About the most important
Why do cats not fly into space?
Sorry for the cats! (laughs)
They say that they have problems with the vestibular apparatus, dogs can, but cats do not.
Cats fly in zero gravity on short flights, apparently they are arranged differently, they have a complex vestibular system. The cat from which floor do not drop, spin-twist, it is always stabilized in flight, feet down. And in zero gravity, it seems impossible to do this.
To be continued ...
Photo from the Facebook page of Pavel Vinogradov . There are still many cosmic beauty in the albums.
Thanks to Ilya Gusev and Yaroslav Veremenko for their help in preparing the text.