Conversation with an astronaut: on fear, icons and subordination
We continue our interview with cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov. Today he will tell us about how astronauts live in orbit, how they live together in a confined space, and what inspires them to conquer space.
The meeting with Pavel Vladimirovich took place thanks to the organizers of the Irkutsk Robotic Festival Robosib . Questions were asked by users of LiveJournal , Geektimes and subscribers of the group “ Open space ” Vkontakte.
Earlier we learned biomedical details of life in space , and today the conditional topic: “Psychology”.
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About fear
Scary in space?
First, not scary. To whom it is terrible, that does not fly. Secondly, what is “scary”? It is terrible when you don’t know, you don’t understand what to do. But, in fact, there really were cases when it became creepy. For example, in the first flight, when working in outer space, he hung his output halyards on a soft handrail ... And he was torn off. And I observe from the corner of my eye that I have one file and the second flies so far to me. At that moment, everything became quite bad.
[ Pavel is talking about his first exit when the crew of the Mir station had to eliminate the consequences of a collision between the Progress truck and the Spectrum module. Halyards fasten astronauts to the station body. ]
But these are moments. If you sit and think about two millimeters of aluminum shell that separates you from a vacuum, then it does not make sense to fly. This is already professional: is it scary for a pilot to lift a plane? Probably not. It becomes terrible when the plane begins to break, fall, lose wings ...
If any instructions, in case the crew member has panic or quarrel?
There is. We have big fat books, where the cosmonauts code of conduct is written, the crew code of conduct, and everything is there. What rights does the commander have, what can he do, even to physical impact.
That is, you can twist and lock in the toilet?
Yes. In the face can. That is, there is not so written, loyal and legally streamlined, but the essence is.
I heard a story, it seems, about a Canadian astronaut who was supposed to control the manipulator and hit the station body or something. In general, something happened there, he decided that the situation was hopeless, panicked, almost burst into tears, and refused to respond to any calls to him. Then they simply locked him in the place where he was sitting and turned off the heating. When he began to freeze, he came to himself and began to more adequately assess the situation.
Well, this is a fairy tale, of course, we do not have such compartments, or rooms, where you can lock and lower the temperature, that is, refrigerators. He was probably upset. We had many cases of collision, with a Canadian manipulator gouging around the station, not only Canadians, but also Americans. That is, it is a normal working environment. Well offensively happens, you will admit any blunder. But I do not remember a single case when a man fell into a trance. Why should you? Iron it is iron.
About subordination
Is there a submission schedule for the crew? Is everyone on the commander, or is there an opportunity to vote?
There are clearly defined functional responsibilities, not only the commander, but in general, each crew member. We have the so-called responsible, or, as the Americans call it, segment officers. They are responsible, for example, for the Russian segment, for the American segment. There is something that Americans conditionally call ... we are responsible, the Americans have an officer, for example, in science. Of course, as in any complex system, functional responsibilities are, of course. But there are different commanders, there is a different style of leadership of the crew. I have always been of the opinion as the commander of the crew: 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 all that is possible, I know that everyone can, I think that the main thing to the commander is not to interfere with the crew. If you are confident in the crew, then do not bother him. Of course, there are situations in which you begin to interfere when you see that not only wrong, not optimal decisions can be made. But then it can be at the level of tips, advice. Honestly, I never for my two commanding expeditions had to knock with my fist, shout tram-tarar, do like this, and not otherwise. Never was this. Yes, he advised something, but Petya, Manya, Sasha spoke there, let's do it this way, because of this. And never had any relationship, they say what you inflate hazing. Therefore, I do not know, maybe I was so lucky. I know there were other crews, relations were different there, different were ...
Although yes, here we had it when Sasha Misurkin and I returned, we had a failure to display the console, 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 the decision solely because, according to our on-board documentation, he had to start doing the appropriate procedure for restarting the console processors, it was already a descent, overload, it was clear that the ship is going well, it is controlled, the dynamics correspond to the expected. Yes, we do not have a number of parameters on the remote, but there are parameters on which this dynamics could be controlled, and in principle we went contrary to the instructions, what was written. And I made a decision - everything, do not touch anything, we go further. And that was it. But nothing of this kind: "do not you dare, do not touch." I asked Sasha the angular velocity, he said: "Commander, everything is normal." Overload? "Established, it goes fine." Descent trajectory? "Yes, it is, within the corridor." Well, there is not something there. But I have this style of work, and I do not accept the other.
I just did a lot of all kinds of flight matters related to the Buran, and, unfortunately, there were tragic examples, such as, I believe, the wrong interaction with the crew. When the commander said, "Yes, you all go nafig, I'm here the most important, the most intelligent." And as a result, people died, and so on. And there are a lot of such examples. This is what is called the inconsistency of the actions of the crew, not even the inconsistency, it is the non-perception of the commander of his crew, and accordingly the crew of his commander. I think this is the hardest, and the worst.
You said "people died in the case of Buran." Is it during preparation or testing? Or what was there?
No, this is a different situation. It was Tu-134, flew to Arkhangelsk, not connected in any way with the Buran program, it was just a crew that flew into a situation where both the navigator and the co-pilot said one thing, and the commander said “no, I do another that I am the eldest here, I am smarter than you. " That is, it was a human, psychological incompatibility of the crew, which led to a severe catastrophe, many people died. And, unfortunately, or fortunately, the commander who was to blame for this, he survived. Here is a punishment for life.
Buranovsky guys, very many died for various other reasons. It was in preparation. They were completely different people, flying completely different programs.
About difficulties
What are the three most significant difficulties in a long flight? First, there is a question about the complexity of interaction in a closed space of several people, and in principle three significant difficulties. Are there any difficulties of psychological compatibility, or is it difficult to fight the desire of homemade potatoes with herring? ..
Well, these are not difficulties, I do not know ... It is difficult for me to single out any difficulties. Maybe I just got lucky in my life, I had excellent crews, I never had communication difficulties, even when we flew six of us last year ... I don't know. Yes, and people do not bother, because the station is so big, everyone is busy with their own affairs. When Jeff Williams and I flew for almost three months together, at the same station, we did not see each other for hours. We had breakfast together in the morning, then scattered to different ends of the station, then only by communication I “Ale, Jeff, where are you?”. "Yes, I'm here, alive and well, went further." That is, to say that you are so fed up so that I can not see you - this was not.
Pro leisure in orbit
What do you do in your free time? And is it?
There is. If you are supposed to sleep for 8 hours and a half, and you will sleep 4, then for 4 hours and a half there is free time. In my opinion, on the second flight, we had a very interesting library on Mir, just phenomenal, and, frankly, it was a pity that it was not taken away, but burned. There, for example, were the author's books of Vysotsky. Unique books were. With signatures, autographs. Unfortunately they burned out. Now of course such an abundance of information. Terabytes of video, music, books you want to download are loaded into your flight. Many are in electronic form, but there are magazines that send, " Astronautics News ", for example. Therefore, to be honest, I have always had slightly different interests, and in the second flight I selected three books for myself, I just put them under the rezinochka in the cabin: I’ll read them for sure, I think, and selected several films that I wanted look. For example, “Yesenin”, when he just came out. Then we flew together with Jeff Williams, well, we of this “Yesenin”, I don’t remember how many episodes there were, we watched it for a month and a half. Just did not have time. Mostly this was done at dinner. When you sit, eat, we then had a huge TV, a display.
By the way about the magazines, which of the Russian carry to the station? I then sell this information for many millions to the advertising department :)
Definitely "Cosmonautics News" comes regularly, "Russian Space", "Popular Mechanics" came, I asked and sent,
That is, this is not some kind of subscription, but everything at will?
Yes, everything is optional, there is a special psychological support service for the crew, at the MCC, it does this. I have been sent some newspapers from Chukotka, the “Chukchi North”, something like this.
That is, only “Russian Space” and “Astronautics News” are constantly present, and everything else is ...
Constantly, probably yes, maybe some more magazines ... In my opinion, “Around the World” came to us, but this is what you ask for - and they bring it.
About fiction
Do you read science fiction, if so, which one, if not, which books do you prefer?
Honestly, the age is probably different, because I quit reading science fiction years, probably at 18–19, just because they appeared ... Yes, nothing good appeared, but to read any kind of rubbish like transformation — retransformation of human individuals somewhere near the star ... I don't know . I was fascinated by science fiction at the level of Belyaev, which could make you think with your brains. The present, today's, it is not even fiction, it is already fantasy, and quite at the level of hemisphenia. I do not know, it takes people, it does not take me a drop. What do I read? .. Yes, now I dig more into some things connected with history, maybe with the history of Russia, the history of Rome ...
Are these scientific books or fiction books?
And artistic. Artistic good ... Probably 50/50. Psychology is very important, in such professional terms, the relationship of small groups ... I even read Freud somehow, I really liked him, just a phenomenal man (laughs). Somehow I was always skeptical about semi-philosophical comrades, but here I like it. I like the fact that it takes some kind of brain, not just for you to read, consume, just chew on this stuffing and it fell into nowhere. When you read it and you don’t have anything left in your brain, inside or in your heart, if it doesn’t touch you, but books, here’s a fantasy, somehow don’t touch that much.
About inspiring space
Continuing the theme of fiction and its reading, did fiction somehow influence the desire to become an astronaut, or the desire to work with the cosmos? And the second question, when did you get 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 science fiction influenced me so that I rushed into cosmonauts, probably not. Just when I grew up as a boy, Gagarin flew, Titov, Komarov ... What can I say. The 71st year, Dobrovolsky, Volkov, Patsayev, and here I am just going to college. Of course, this is not all fantasy, it was a completely different life.
The reality was not worse than fiction?
Yes. I always liked to do engineering, I was always engaged in rockets. As a child I let them in hundreds of pieces, it was interesting to me. He grew up on the airfield, so aviation, maybe not the first, second love. He wanted to be a pilot, but it happened so, he came to the commission, he fell ill and they told me: “Boy, don't be so bad, go to another institute, now while you get sick and go to the army, in August-September. Go to another institution. So I did not manage to become a pilot. Therefore, I can not say that I read a lot of fiction and went to the spaceport.
You can understand, then the space program was at the peak of popularity.
About pride
Here is a psychologically philosophical question: During the flight, is there more pride in humanity, or pride in your country?
I do not know, never felt (laughs). No, probably both. Because when the President of Russia congratulates you on April 12, or your birthday, you get in touch, there “Pavel Vladimirovich, tram-tararam, thank you, that your crew ...”. Or when Patriarch Alexy comes, on Easter, I never had to talk to him in my life, and here he talked with us for forty minutes. Just penetrate to this person. Or, I do not know, the American President congratulated ... Well, such a level. Angela Merkel “Hi guys, you know, I don't want to talk to you like a chancellor, I'm an astrophysicist! I'm a physicist, well, tell me, how is it ... "Of course, pride! The pride for myself that the presidents are talking to you there, or the pride for the country, that even Merkel said, "Guys, I'm so proud that I'm here with you all on the same screen." And she was there on a huge screen - her half, our half (laughs). Here it is. Of course, pride in the country, and partly for himself, of course.
That is, somehow, mankind, in principle, does not feel that way, how is humanity globally?
No, it's all there you start to perceive in a different way, because there are no borders, nothing is visible. And when you look, you think, “Lord, what is there to share? Iraq, Iran, Kuwait ... Guys, yes, we normally fly you, 10 seconds. And you have been fighting for years there. What to share? Nothing to share. I know with my finger, with the little finger you will cover the porthole, and there is not visible this Kuwait. That is a different understanding. In general, space, life, the Earth seems so tiny, so I do not know. Well, in general, until something serious falls on the head, some second Yucatan happens in America, then everyone will become brothers and sisters at once.
About icons
Regarding Christianity and Orthodoxy, they asked why icons are in orbit, and the second question is, how do you feel about the rite of consecration of the rocket?
I do not belong in any way. I am not a religious person, although grandmother baptized me in secret from my parents, in infancy. Because dad worked in party organs, he served in SMERSH before that. What is religion there? No. I do not 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’m generally not against it, I’m for. The fact that the icons are there, I do not know, I calmly relate to this. 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 the 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 divorced these wars. Well, while this icon flew with us, all the Balkan wars ended. Is that a coincidence? Maybe a coincidence. I am quite calm about this. We have a specific regulation that says that we should not stick out any religion ...
About business
Another question about the business: Have the contracts stipulated a ban on the sale of things and personal items that have been in space?
It is strictly forbidden. We do not do this.
That is, no commerce, under any circumstances?
Earlier, once upon a time, we collected 100, 200, 500 envelopes, then sold them for some dollars ... Now it’s all written in that Manifesto which everyone signs. The list of things is quite limited. It says that it is possible to have 10 or 15 envelopes for personal correspondence; there is no permitted business in terms of the sale and resale of personal belongings from space. I have several flight gears 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 the other.
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, for the first 30 days, then 60, 90, 180 ... Some holidays are done. After that, it rises again to the training program. If not in an active crew for training, then there are a lot of things to do, a sea of ​​all kinds of trips, invitations, schools, universities, this is just an operational work in the Mission Control Center. This is the support of the training crews in training, this is participation in the crews, well, such conditional crews, the young people who are trained in groups, or as part of general space training. This is skydiving, special parachute training. Every year it is survival here and there, when an experienced person and a couple of inexperienced ones walk. Some kind of scientific work. Maintenance of all operational work in the MCC.
Well, if you want it. If not, as some, they flew in, got everything they needed, they said thank you, at best they didn’t slam the door, and went, for example, to a bank, or to an oil company.
Those. they leave the cosmonaut corps?
Yes.
But trips to universities and schools. It is clear to schools, there is more likely a popularization, a story about what space is, and in universities is more education or popularization?
I think that it is more educational, because more or less serious lectures and speeches already.
That is, the profile of universities is obtained?
Yes.There are dozens of such invitations. Unfortunately, we have to really often refuse. Because there are just a lot of them. Well, this is as 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 do not know where to go to learn. What more like it.
This is understandable, but after studying a journalist, probably there will hardly be a chance to get into space?
No, certainly quite good engineering training is needed. Because the requirements are quite high. Of course, you can memorize something, but this makes your head better, it does not become lighter. Therefore, technical training is desirable. Why technical? Well, for example, here we have Sergei Ryazan- brilliantly, perfectly flew. Biologist. Moscow State University. Well, brains ... He is not a pure biologist, there is a technique, and medicine and all that. Oleg Kotov , his commander, generally graduated from the medical academy, military doctor, then graduated from the flight school. Received a diploma pilot. He graduated from another institute, received an engineering degree, therefore ... Well, probably these are flight specialties, somehow related, and technical: these are computer science, and electronics, physics, mathematics. This is the 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 weightlessness on short flights, apparently, they are arranged differently, they have a complex vestibular system. Do not throw a cat from which floor, twist and twist it, it is always stabilized in flight with its feet down. And in zero gravity, it seems impossible to do.
To be continued ...
Photos from the Facebook page of Pavel Vinogradov . There are still a lot of cosmic beauty in the albums.
Thanks to Ilya Gusev and Yaroslav Veremenko for help in preparing the text.
The meeting with Pavel Vladimirovich took place thanks to the organizers of the Irkutsk Robotic Festival Robosib . Questions were asked by users of LiveJournal , Geektimes and subscribers of the group “ Open space ” Vkontakte.
Earlier we learned biomedical details of life in space , and today the conditional topic: “Psychology”.
')
A little bit about Pavel Vladimirovich
On account of Pavel Vladimirovich, three expeditions into space: one on the “Mir” in 1997, and two on the ISS in 2006 and 2013. In the open space, the astronaut worked more than 38 hours, in 7 outputs, including participating in the aftermath of the collision of the Progress spacecraft with the Mir station in 1997.
Before joining the cosmonaut corps, in NPO Energia, Pavel was involved in automated systems and crew interaction with them, and participated in the Buran project.
The accumulated experience and knowledge of 34 years of work of Pavel Vinogradov in the space industry are invaluable for the younger generation of space enthusiasts and all who decide to link their lives with the conquest of the Universe.
Before joining the cosmonaut corps, in NPO Energia, Pavel was involved in automated systems and crew interaction with them, and participated in the Buran project.
The accumulated experience and knowledge of 34 years of work of Pavel Vinogradov in the space industry are invaluable for the younger generation of space enthusiasts and all who decide to link their lives with the conquest of the Universe.
About fear
Scary in space?
First, not scary. To whom it is terrible, that does not fly. Secondly, what is “scary”? It is terrible when you don’t know, you don’t understand what to do. But, in fact, there really were cases when it became creepy. For example, in the first flight, when working in outer space, he hung his output halyards on a soft handrail ... And he was torn off. And I observe from the corner of my eye that I have one file and the second flies so far to me. At that moment, everything became quite bad.
[ Pavel is talking about his first exit when the crew of the Mir station had to eliminate the consequences of a collision between the Progress truck and the Spectrum module. Halyards fasten astronauts to the station body. ]
But these are moments. If you sit and think about two millimeters of aluminum shell that separates you from a vacuum, then it does not make sense to fly. This is already professional: is it scary for a pilot to lift a plane? Probably not. It becomes terrible when the plane begins to break, fall, lose wings ...
If any instructions, in case the crew member has panic or quarrel?
There is. We have big fat books, where the cosmonauts code of conduct is written, the crew code of conduct, and everything is there. What rights does the commander have, what can he do, even to physical impact.
That is, you can twist and lock in the toilet?
Yes. In the face can. That is, there is not so written, loyal and legally streamlined, but the essence is.
I heard a story, it seems, about a Canadian astronaut who was supposed to control the manipulator and hit the station body or something. In general, something happened there, he decided that the situation was hopeless, panicked, almost burst into tears, and refused to respond to any calls to him. Then they simply locked him in the place where he was sitting and turned off the heating. When he began to freeze, he came to himself and began to more adequately assess the situation.
Well, this is a fairy tale, of course, we do not have such compartments, or rooms, where you can lock and lower the temperature, that is, refrigerators. He was probably upset. We had many cases of collision, with a Canadian manipulator gouging around the station, not only Canadians, but also Americans. That is, it is a normal working environment. Well offensively happens, you will admit any blunder. But I do not remember a single case when a man fell into a trance. Why should you? Iron it is iron.
About subordination
Is there a submission schedule for the crew? Is everyone on the commander, or is there an opportunity to vote?
There are clearly defined functional responsibilities, not only the commander, but in general, each crew member. We have the so-called responsible, or, as the Americans call it, segment officers. They are responsible, for example, for the Russian segment, for the American segment. There is something that Americans conditionally call ... we are responsible, the Americans have an officer, for example, in science. Of course, as in any complex system, functional responsibilities are, of course. But there are different commanders, there is a different style of leadership of the crew. I have always been of the opinion as the commander of the crew: 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 all that is possible, I know that everyone can, I think that the main thing to the commander is not to interfere with the crew. If you are confident in the crew, then do not bother him. Of course, there are situations in which you begin to interfere when you see that not only wrong, not optimal decisions can be made. But then it can be at the level of tips, advice. Honestly, I never for my two commanding expeditions had to knock with my fist, shout tram-tarar, do like this, and not otherwise. Never was this. Yes, he advised something, but Petya, Manya, Sasha spoke there, let's do it this way, because of this. And never had any relationship, they say what you inflate hazing. Therefore, I do not know, maybe I was so lucky. I know there were other crews, relations were different there, different were ...
Although yes, here we had it when Sasha Misurkin and I returned, we had a failure to display the console, 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 the decision solely because, according to our on-board documentation, he had to start doing the appropriate procedure for restarting the console processors, it was already a descent, overload, it was clear that the ship is going well, it is controlled, the dynamics correspond to the expected. Yes, we do not have a number of parameters on the remote, but there are parameters on which this dynamics could be controlled, and in principle we went contrary to the instructions, what was written. And I made a decision - everything, do not touch anything, we go further. And that was it. But nothing of this kind: "do not you dare, do not touch." I asked Sasha the angular velocity, he said: "Commander, everything is normal." Overload? "Established, it goes fine." Descent trajectory? "Yes, it is, within the corridor." Well, there is not something there. But I have this style of work, and I do not accept the other.
I just did a lot of all kinds of flight matters related to the Buran, and, unfortunately, there were tragic examples, such as, I believe, the wrong interaction with the crew. When the commander said, "Yes, you all go nafig, I'm here the most important, the most intelligent." And as a result, people died, and so on. And there are a lot of such examples. This is what is called the inconsistency of the actions of the crew, not even the inconsistency, it is the non-perception of the commander of his crew, and accordingly the crew of his commander. I think this is the hardest, and the worst.
You said "people died in the case of Buran." Is it during preparation or testing? Or what was there?
No, this is a different situation. It was Tu-134, flew to Arkhangelsk, not connected in any way with the Buran program, it was just a crew that flew into a situation where both the navigator and the co-pilot said one thing, and the commander said “no, I do another that I am the eldest here, I am smarter than you. " That is, it was a human, psychological incompatibility of the crew, which led to a severe catastrophe, many people died. And, unfortunately, or fortunately, the commander who was to blame for this, he survived. Here is a punishment for life.
Buranovsky guys, very many died for various other reasons. It was in preparation. They were completely different people, flying completely different programs.
About difficulties
What are the three most significant difficulties in a long flight? First, there is a question about the complexity of interaction in a closed space of several people, and in principle three significant difficulties. Are there any difficulties of psychological compatibility, or is it difficult to fight the desire of homemade potatoes with herring? ..
Well, these are not difficulties, I do not know ... It is difficult for me to single out any difficulties. Maybe I just got lucky in my life, I had excellent crews, I never had communication difficulties, even when we flew six of us last year ... I don't know. Yes, and people do not bother, because the station is so big, everyone is busy with their own affairs. When Jeff Williams and I flew for almost three months together, at the same station, we did not see each other for hours. We had breakfast together in the morning, then scattered to different ends of the station, then only by communication I “Ale, Jeff, where are you?”. "Yes, I'm here, alive and well, went further." That is, to say that you are so fed up so that I can not see you - this was not.
Pro leisure in orbit
What do you do in your free time? And is it?
There is. If you are supposed to sleep for 8 hours and a half, and you will sleep 4, then for 4 hours and a half there is free time. In my opinion, on the second flight, we had a very interesting library on Mir, just phenomenal, and, frankly, it was a pity that it was not taken away, but burned. There, for example, were the author's books of Vysotsky. Unique books were. With signatures, autographs. Unfortunately they burned out. Now of course such an abundance of information. Terabytes of video, music, books you want to download are loaded into your flight. Many are in electronic form, but there are magazines that send, " Astronautics News ", for example. Therefore, to be honest, I have always had slightly different interests, and in the second flight I selected three books for myself, I just put them under the rezinochka in the cabin: I’ll read them for sure, I think, and selected several films that I wanted look. For example, “Yesenin”, when he just came out. Then we flew together with Jeff Williams, well, we of this “Yesenin”, I don’t remember how many episodes there were, we watched it for a month and a half. Just did not have time. Mostly this was done at dinner. When you sit, eat, we then had a huge TV, a display.
By the way about the magazines, which of the Russian carry to the station? I then sell this information for many millions to the advertising department :)
Definitely "Cosmonautics News" comes regularly, "Russian Space", "Popular Mechanics" came, I asked and sent,
That is, this is not some kind of subscription, but everything at will?
Yes, everything is optional, there is a special psychological support service for the crew, at the MCC, it does this. I have been sent some newspapers from Chukotka, the “Chukchi North”, something like this.
That is, only “Russian Space” and “Astronautics News” are constantly present, and everything else is ...
Constantly, probably yes, maybe some more magazines ... In my opinion, “Around the World” came to us, but this is what you ask for - and they bring it.
About fiction
Do you read science fiction, if so, which one, if not, which books do you prefer?
Honestly, the age is probably different, because I quit reading science fiction years, probably at 18–19, just because they appeared ... Yes, nothing good appeared, but to read any kind of rubbish like transformation — retransformation of human individuals somewhere near the star ... I don't know . I was fascinated by science fiction at the level of Belyaev, which could make you think with your brains. The present, today's, it is not even fiction, it is already fantasy, and quite at the level of hemisphenia. I do not know, it takes people, it does not take me a drop. What do I read? .. Yes, now I dig more into some things connected with history, maybe with the history of Russia, the history of Rome ...
Are these scientific books or fiction books?
And artistic. Artistic good ... Probably 50/50. Psychology is very important, in such professional terms, the relationship of small groups ... I even read Freud somehow, I really liked him, just a phenomenal man (laughs). Somehow I was always skeptical about semi-philosophical comrades, but here I like it. I like the fact that it takes some kind of brain, not just for you to read, consume, just chew on this stuffing and it fell into nowhere. When you read it and you don’t have anything left in your brain, inside or in your heart, if it doesn’t touch you, but books, here’s a fantasy, somehow don’t touch that much.
About inspiring space
Continuing the theme of fiction and its reading, did fiction somehow influence the desire to become an astronaut, or the desire to work with the cosmos? And the second question, when did you get 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 science fiction influenced me so that I rushed into cosmonauts, probably not. Just when I grew up as a boy, Gagarin flew, Titov, Komarov ... What can I say. The 71st year, Dobrovolsky, Volkov, Patsayev, and here I am just going to college. Of course, this is not all fantasy, it was a completely different life.
The reality was not worse than fiction?
Yes. I always liked to do engineering, I was always engaged in rockets. As a child I let them in hundreds of pieces, it was interesting to me. He grew up on the airfield, so aviation, maybe not the first, second love. He wanted to be a pilot, but it happened so, he came to the commission, he fell ill and they told me: “Boy, don't be so bad, go to another institute, now while you get sick and go to the army, in August-September. Go to another institution. So I did not manage to become a pilot. Therefore, I can not say that I read a lot of fiction and went to the spaceport.
You can understand, then the space program was at the peak of popularity.
About pride
Here is a psychologically philosophical question: During the flight, is there more pride in humanity, or pride in your country?
I do not know, never felt (laughs). No, probably both. Because when the President of Russia congratulates you on April 12, or your birthday, you get in touch, there “Pavel Vladimirovich, tram-tararam, thank you, that your crew ...”. Or when Patriarch Alexy comes, on Easter, I never had to talk to him in my life, and here he talked with us for forty minutes. Just penetrate to this person. Or, I do not know, the American President congratulated ... Well, such a level. Angela Merkel “Hi guys, you know, I don't want to talk to you like a chancellor, I'm an astrophysicist! I'm a physicist, well, tell me, how is it ... "Of course, pride! The pride for myself that the presidents are talking to you there, or the pride for the country, that even Merkel said, "Guys, I'm so proud that I'm here with you all on the same screen." And she was there on a huge screen - her half, our half (laughs). Here it is. Of course, pride in the country, and partly for himself, of course.
That is, somehow, mankind, in principle, does not feel that way, how is humanity globally?
No, it's all there you start to perceive in a different way, because there are no borders, nothing is visible. And when you look, you think, “Lord, what is there to share? Iraq, Iran, Kuwait ... Guys, yes, we normally fly you, 10 seconds. And you have been fighting for years there. What to share? Nothing to share. I know with my finger, with the little finger you will cover the porthole, and there is not visible this Kuwait. That is a different understanding. In general, space, life, the Earth seems so tiny, so I do not know. Well, in general, until something serious falls on the head, some second Yucatan happens in America, then everyone will become brothers and sisters at once.
About icons
Regarding Christianity and Orthodoxy, they asked why icons are in orbit, and the second question is, how do you feel about the rite of consecration of the rocket?
I do not belong in any way. I am not a religious person, although grandmother baptized me in secret from my parents, in infancy. Because dad worked in party organs, he served in SMERSH before that. What is religion there? No. I do not 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’m generally not against it, I’m for. The fact that the icons are there, I do not know, I calmly relate to this. 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 the 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 divorced these wars. Well, while this icon flew with us, all the Balkan wars ended. Is that a coincidence? Maybe a coincidence. I am quite calm about this. We have a specific regulation that says that we should not stick out any religion ...
About business
Another question about the business: Have the contracts stipulated a ban on the sale of things and personal items that have been in space?
It is strictly forbidden. We do not do this.
That is, no commerce, under any circumstances?
Earlier, once upon a time, we collected 100, 200, 500 envelopes, then sold them for some dollars ... Now it’s all written in that Manifesto which everyone signs. The list of things is quite limited. It says that it is possible to have 10 or 15 envelopes for personal correspondence; there is no permitted business in terms of the sale and resale of personal belongings from space. I have several flight gears 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 the other.
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, for the first 30 days, then 60, 90, 180 ... Some holidays are done. After that, it rises again to the training program. If not in an active crew for training, then there are a lot of things to do, a sea of ​​all kinds of trips, invitations, schools, universities, this is just an operational work in the Mission Control Center. This is the support of the training crews in training, this is participation in the crews, well, such conditional crews, the young people who are trained in groups, or as part of general space training. This is skydiving, special parachute training. Every year it is survival here and there, when an experienced person and a couple of inexperienced ones walk. Some kind of scientific work. Maintenance of all operational work in the MCC.
Well, if you want it. If not, as some, they flew in, got everything they needed, they said thank you, at best they didn’t slam the door, and went, for example, to a bank, or to an oil company.
Those. they leave the cosmonaut corps?
Yes.
But trips to universities and schools. It is clear to schools, there is more likely a popularization, a story about what space is, and in universities is more education or popularization?
I think that it is more educational, because more or less serious lectures and speeches already.
That is, the profile of universities is obtained?
Yes.There are dozens of such invitations. Unfortunately, we have to really often refuse. Because there are just a lot of them. Well, this is as 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 do not know where to go to learn. What more like it.
This is understandable, but after studying a journalist, probably there will hardly be a chance to get into space?
No, certainly quite good engineering training is needed. Because the requirements are quite high. Of course, you can memorize something, but this makes your head better, it does not become lighter. Therefore, technical training is desirable. Why technical? Well, for example, here we have Sergei Ryazan- brilliantly, perfectly flew. Biologist. Moscow State University. Well, brains ... He is not a pure biologist, there is a technique, and medicine and all that. Oleg Kotov , his commander, generally graduated from the medical academy, military doctor, then graduated from the flight school. Received a diploma pilot. He graduated from another institute, received an engineering degree, therefore ... Well, probably these are flight specialties, somehow related, and technical: these are computer science, and electronics, physics, mathematics. This is the 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 weightlessness on short flights, apparently, they are arranged differently, they have a complex vestibular system. Do not throw a cat from which floor, twist and twist it, it is always stabilized in flight with its feet down. And in zero gravity, it seems impossible to do.
To be continued ...
Photos from the Facebook page of Pavel Vinogradov . There are still a lot of cosmic beauty in the albums.
Thanks to Ilya Gusev and Yaroslav Veremenko for help in preparing the text.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/375911/
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