Conversation with astronaut: health, weightlessness and space mutants

The first part of the conversation with cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov, health on Earth and orbit, weight control, sports, medical experiments, weightlessness, overloads, smells station comic mutants and mustache.

Photo borrows blog aviator-ru .

The result of our unexpected meeting with cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov. The interview was prepared for users LiveJournal , publications Geektimes and social network FaceBook .

In November 2014 I was invited to talk about the rover Lunokhod and festival Robosib in Irkutsk. Here good report on the event from the Leonid Kaganova . By happy coincidence, among the invited guests was also Павел Vinogradov . I invited him to conduct an interview with questions from the Internet. He gladly accepted. I pestered him almost the entire flight from Irkutsk to Moscow, as a result of accumulated a lot of material and took a long time to process. All questions and answers, I decided divided into several parts. Conditionally it would be: "Medicine", "Psychology", "Engineering", "Roscosmos". All of them are closely intertwined and extremely interesting, such details often do not find anywhere else.

Communication with the astronauts and spacecraft engineers always reminds me of that space - it is much harder and more complicated than we think, than draw book or a movie. And such a conversation - a way for a moment with one eye to look into the complex and unknown world where a person commits the first steps made incredible efforts to the limit.

On account of Paul V. three expeditions into space: one on "World" in 1997, at the ISS and two in 2006 and 2013. In the open space astronaut worked for more than 38 hours, 7 outputs, including participation in the aftermath of столкновения ship "Progress" to the station "Mir" in 1997.

Before becoming a cosmonaut, in NGOs "Energy" Paul was engaged in automated systems and the interaction with them crews participated, including in the "Buran".

The accumulated experience and knowledge of 34 years of work Pavel Vinogradov in the space industry, are invaluable to the younger generation of space enthusiasts and anyone who decides to link their lives to the conquest of the universe.

Today, the first part:

Medicine

About the health and weight control

One of the most popular issues - health. You're the only astronaut who met his sixtieth birthday in space, and now just ready to fly. How do you manage to maintain the physical form? Blood pressure even ask ... i>

One hundred and twenty to eighty. Did not manage to - thanks dad with mom.

That is, you do not have any secret diet or vitamin complexes? .. I>

Never dealt with diet or vitamin complexes. The only thing that is probably very much help - part tester at the Institute of Biomedical Problems. It's just a fantastic invaluable experience, develop the habit of feel, feel your body, know your limits, know their capabilities. We went to the transcendent, for normal people ... Of course there are modes and physical training, charging morning pyadtesyat time to bend, crouch eighty times ... I've never been a fan of the sport, I do not like to run around like a horse for twenty kilometers. I run for fun, sometimes 2-3 4 kilometers, easy pace. For me it's more emotional release than exercise.
For the weight you have to watch. Now, after an extreme flight had little to lose ...

That is, you're there to gain weight? I>

I've left a little before flying abroad comfortable feeling. My normal weight 77-78 kg for my height and build normal, before the flight was 82, after the flight scored 84-85. It already felt some discomfort. I set a goal ... There are no special diets, no exceptions, it quietly everything that creeps and moves. Just a little reduced diet. Back to fiznagruzki, normal for me - medium and light. And back to normal for me to 77 kg.

Some astronauts note the difference in tastes in the world and in orbit. Was it? What do you like the house, and that the station? I>

Approximately half of those who fly, noted that tastes change. Not even tastes and preferences. But I was lucky, I omnivorous man that loved on earth, and in flight. Although there is something causing a special pleasure. Cottage cheese with nuts - probably the most favorite food in all the astronauts all crews. Fish products have now become good to do. In general, the range of food on the station is now a giant - a hundred names. There are plenty to choose from. Especially the international station and each country tries to bring something of their own. Our diets are different. Russian menu changes periodically, but mostly it's some fundamental dishes, almost always with meat, very high-calorie, under three thousand calories. The Americans have a lot of very good things, they have different cereals ... In general, we have excellent diets, buckwheat, barley, mashed potatoes with onions ... but in the end it is bored, bored. You want something simple, earthly, boiled potatoes with herring with butter. Somewhere in a month flight is already beginning to remember.

About the vitamins and mind

It is assumed there a set of drugs to improve concentration, mental tone? I>

There are a whole range of products related mainly to vitamins and maintaining normal calcium metabolism, for cardiac work, a la Panangin. I'm not saying that it is specifically Panangin, but it is such a class. There are all sorts of vitamins, B, D ... Because, despite the radiation level, vitamin D is simply not produced, it is simply nowhere to be produced there. And to take preventive measures, there is a whole range of them, doctors, medical services at all times reminiscent of the "guys here today begin a cycle - five to seven days." Well, from the mind, in my opinion did not take.



About the weightlessness and overload

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

This moment not to miss. First 520 seconds of launch, then pushers third stage - pirosredstva - works so that you feel a heavy blow to kick-back. It just does not appear sharply propustish.Nevesomost: bang, the engine is off, the third stage undocked and all - flew.
How to explain what weightlessness? If you do not talk about parabolic flights in training aircraft, the closest similarity - a parachute jump. And then the first few seconds before opening the parachute. And there is a little different - the flow of air, wind, load ...

A scuba diving? I>

There is a lesser degree. Gravity is still felt. In the water simulates the opportunity to roll as you like. But if "Orlan" [spacesuit] you have turned upside down in gidrobasseyne, outwardly seems as if weightless, and the suit is completely obezveshen - does not float and not sink, but you do realize that you're upside down. There is another condition - called gidronevesomost - there practiced skills orientation in space, you can spin as you like. The most realistic effect - a parabolic flights.

How does the body react to weightlessness? Whether long held adaptation? I>

All in different ways, but I'm very lucky. I still have to first start saying, in any case, do not look out the window of the ship. It is now we quickly drifted, and before we left the ship in a twist - panels focused on the sun. Mode is called: Twist the sun. Fly so that the battery is always deployed on the sunny side. Rotation pretty intense - 12 degrees per second, and the Coriolis force makes itself felt. It lasted for several hours, 3-4 times per flight. Now fly without spin, simpler, easier, but the perception of weightlessness purely individually, although charged with training all of us equally. Now - chair Coriolis were previously swing Hill ... In general there are many devices that you unscrewed the inside out. There are newcomers, who at first could not stand for two minutes on a chair Coriolis rotation, and must be at least 10. "pass mark" for beginners 10-15 minutes. Before the flight, we twist 25-30-40 minutes. Doctors say, "As long as you do not get bored," but in fact until the seat perestenet have any effect at all. Someone help, some do not, as in flight other vestibular disorders.



Ie. in-flight problems with a twist on the Sun, and not the actual weightlessness? i>

No, vestibular disorders, not only because of the twist. Particular problems arise when the transition to the small volume of the ship on the high volume station. Here there is already quite bad, as there is no sensation of top and bottom. Bottom and the ceiling is divided by color, but it does not help much.

How many of you took the adaptation? When you realize that the station feel confident? I>

Probably still a few days. Because in addition to the vestibular sensations are also the so-called redistribution hemodynamics. The redistribution of the blood in the body. Even visible swelling of the face, swelling of the neck, because the blood rushes to your head. Our upper body in the world is not subject to such influences and this is causing some discomfort - nasal congestion, swelling of the face ... But goes to 3-4-5-day. We also have a means of prevention, we carry the first week - medicine recommends. Special costumes, which make it possible to relax the muscles. Pull-suit "Penguin", it looks like a normal flight suit, but there are so many gums. They are forced to work the back muscles, thighs, calves, arms, shoulder girdle. The whole body covered. Such a suit is recommended to wear first flight, but some prefer to wear the entire flight - is recommended. I wore it in the first flight is very small, because It was very hot, but also in other missions too, did not last long.

Is there a dependence on the feeling of weightlessness? Is there a desire to repeat it again? I>

If someone brings it easily - of course there is, of course. It's like once climbed a mountain, and you pull in these mountains a hundred times. As once bailed out, and I want to jump and jump. Or dived under the water and want to dive and dive (laughs). Of course, pulls. I remember a month, days five to seven - eight, when the little pass any back pain. You think, "I would have flown».

tells the story of a habit, when astronaut mug can put on the air. I>

Yes, I was so, when I first came back from a flight, asked his wife a glass of water, drank a glass and let go, without any ulterior motives. In exactly the same flight, ground habits. Anything written in pen, put the pen on the table. Just looked - it's gone. It's everywhere.

How overload transferred? I>

Overload rather quietly tolerated - is coached thing - to fly a plane, spinning in a centrifuge for removing the graphics-descent.

The body is ready? I>

There overloading staff - is 4, 5-4, 6 units. There are modes, they are also full-time, but we try to avoid them - unmanaged ballistic descent. There overload higher - 8, 5-9 units.

There is a difference in sensation overload on breeding and descent? I>

Of course, different modes. Rocket works quite smoothly, gradually gaining speed. At the stage of first stage overload 1-1, 5 units. For 25-30 seconds slowly growing, but the department level drops to almost zero. On the descent overload above.

About the conception and birth of weightlessness

Tell us about some of the experiments at the "World" or the ISS i>

We had newts to "the world." Officially, the nicknames they had only one female we called Annie. They were attached to the legs of colored beads and we distinguish them by color. Unfortunately, we have it died of heart failure. We had 14 of their pieces. We brought them into the orbit of healthy living. But they have had no luck in the world. We did not sit very well with Tolay Solovyov, got into a terrible snowstorm on February 19. Us flew a single helicopter air army commander, with General. He took us, and everyone else left: paratroopers maintenance team. Frost was minus 18-19 degrees. Until it got to the rescue vehicles ... In general newts we simply froze in the descent module, unfortunately.



But there were a lot of experiments. I worked on the French program very much, there were interesting biological experiments. Was an experiment, "Ana", in translation is "birth, conception," ie, is born. Also grown newts there, but it was at a different stage. Delivered to the station spawn from it emerged fry, fingerlings of tadpoles of tadpoles tritonchiki ... The aim was to see the development of eggs, and came to very poor results. Much has been defective division. Usually divided all living things multiply: one yaytseklatka divided in half, then four, eight, sixteen and gone-gone-gone ... And there is a large percentage of the so-called caught "Pathological division", for example divided into two, and then not four but three, four or five ... These things. So that such wild cries, they say, let's send a married couple or any where else in the cosmos and everything it's done, well, this is from the point of view of human - it bredyatina. It is also difficult to process even a person's birth, and his development of conception. In general, I would not risk.

About sex

And the process of conceiving something in weightlessness possible? As there is generally a function of this? I>

Absolutely real. I think that humanity can do it in any place at all. I think so. There's even easier - and on the wall and ceiling can be where you want. It would be a desire, and the desire to eat.

None are any problems in this area to return to Earth? I>

I do not know, I think not. In any case, no one talked about the problems. "Behold, I have arrived and everything is bad" is just all say the opposite. With this case all is well.

Ie. wife happy returns? i>

Yes!

About dream

the dream had a few questions: firstly whether different dreams, which you see on the ground and in space. And one such half-mystical question is not whether such that all crew members, or more crew members, at the same time saw the same dream? I>

I do not know, first of all, I close with anyone not sleep, and ask that dream ... (laughs). Secondly, I dream, I do not know fortunately or unfortunately, do not dream and the world in general. Well maybe they dream of, but I do not remember them. Similarly, in space never dreamed of.

About how sleep decorated, already known about the sleeping bag there ... i>

Well sleep ... sleeping is generally very bad and the ugly, because in our segment quite noisy. 65-67 decibels. This noise is slightly less than the inside of the aircraft. Therefore, the dream can not say, of course, he is worse than on Earth. I've always lacked pillows, because the head is hanging out in the sleeping bag. I myself untyata [fur boots] has attached instead of pillows. Vyvernesh them inside out. That fur until they are worn, clean. Vyvernesh them into one another put in, and it seemed like a pillow.

As for the flashes in his eyes, there is such as cosmic particles in the pupils get? I>

There.

That night? or during the day, too, can happen? i>

If very powerful radiation, it can be seen even in the daytime, under normal light, this outbreak. It happens at night. Even at night sometimes wake up from it. That is probably not a very deep sleep, and flash ... It's easy to get disoriented when you sleep. Just wake up naturally in a sleeping bag, natural light is turned off. I still always had the illusion that I sleep horizontally, that is my vertical cabin, as if she were lying horizontally, or upside down. That is such a feeling that I was sleeping on the wall vertically as I normally physically awake, I was rare.

About the silence

The silence of space is difficult to hear? I>

I once heard only when we have to cut down on the world management system, and we all fell ... That is the station freezes switched off fans took to the minimum, ie the voltage drops below the minimum threshold, all the stops nafig, and began to creak housing because he is cooled on one side and on the other heats. That's what's called a deathly silence (laughs). That is scary.

About the smell of space

about the smell at the station: If it is impossible to take a shower and exercise are required, if the station does not smell like a gym? I>

Does not smell, because we have an air purification system, three orders of magnitude better than any Physical Culture Hall. Removes all. Smells, ketones, which can smell or anything. Of course there is a peculiar smell in the station, because it is the smell of the machine.















Yes, there is.