Sergey Krikalev: Without Gagarin's flight, further space exploration would have been impossible. EXCLUSIVE

Guest of the program “Eurasia. Literally “the first Soviet cosmonaut who flew on the American shuttle, Sergei Krikalev, became the first Soviet cosmonaut on the MIR TV channel. He was the first to board the ISS and was awarded the title of Hero of Russia. Maxim Krasotkin talked to the cosmonaut.

– We are meeting in the year of the 60th anniversary of the first manned space flight. How did Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin influence you personally as a cosmonaut and as a person?

Yuri Krikalev: When this flight took place, I was still in kindergarten. And the significance of this flight was difficult for me to assess at that time. But when I began to learn more about technology, learn more about space, became interested in rocketry, came to work for a space company, of course, as they say, with the increase of time, you begin to understand the significance of this. And it would seem that a small step is just one turn, but nevertheless, without this flight, further space exploration would be impossible.

– Gagarin was the first in space. You are also spoken of as the first. You are the first Soviet cosmonaut to fly on an American shuttle. You are the first to open the hatch of the International Space Station, the first Hero of Russia. How does it feel to be the first?

Yuri Krikalev: Cosmonautics is in many ways connected with the former. I was the first in one, we were the first who flew at the Salyut station, the first who flew at the Mir station, the first who performed some unusual experiments or made exits in new spacesuits, that is, astronautics is strongly connected with the word first. I was lucky in some programs to participate in the beginning of these programs. They were therefore challenging and interesting. In general, being the first is difficult, because you have to walk this path for the first time and in many ways overcome the unknown.

– But when you first visited the ISS, what did you feel then?

Yuri Krikalev: My first stay at the station in space was due to the fact that we docked two elements of the space station together. The first unit was launched from the Baikonur cosmodrome, and the second unit was launched on a shuttle from Cape Canaveral. Our crew carried out this docking and the beginning of this work at a station that was still small at that time, consisting of two modules. Later, almost two years later, Yuri Gidzenko, Bill Shepherd and I flew in to begin work at the station as a long expedition. This was the beginning of the path on which we continue to go now. For over 20 years, the station has been flying in continuous manned mode. – Remember your most interesting experiments on expeditions. Can we somehow feel the results of these experiments on Earth?

Yuri Krikalev: We had very interesting experiments on board the Mir station, when we created a large farm on the surface of the station. It was a record-breaking structure assembled using a special technology. By the way, the elements of this farm are now in the Cosmonautics Museum at VDNKh. These are the elements that we used to create this large farm.

There was technical experience associated with testing systems at the Mir station, when we discovered problems related to the depressurization of the thermal control system, and the crew had to repair it all (this was not during our flight). We managed to take all this into account and make changes to the design of the ISS Russian Segment. And those problems that appeared in more than the tenth year of operation, we did not allow here. The station has been flying for more than 20 years, and we do not see such a problem as was on the Mir with the pipelines of the thermal control system, that is, we used this experience.

Growing plants are emotionally interesting experiments. It is always pleasant when you are among plastic and metal to see the sprouts making their way. You begin, perhaps, more than on Earth to follow how some sprouts of wheat grow. On the last flight, in 2005, we had an automated greenhouse, which allowed us to technically add nutrients, change the lighting schedule, that is, it was such a computerized small greenhouse. My predecessor Salizhan Sharipov grew peas there, and I grew radishes. So we grew it, thinned it out. We tried some of the radishes, then carefully preserved both the radish itself and the tops. Already at the cellular level, all this has been investigated on Earth. I think this can help those future expeditions who will fly far and who will have to organize some kind of circulation of substances inside the station, growing food for themselves.

– Now there are many different opinions about the Mir station. Some say that it was outdated, others that it could still fly. How do you think?

Yuri Krikalev: Both are true. She could still fly, but she was outdated. When we started work on the new station, it is clear that it is difficult to work on two stations in parallel. I expressed this point of view even then and now I adhere to it: the construction of the ISS had to start from the Mir station. We would have spare compartments, we would have places that could help us in the deployment of this station. Experienced cosmonauts were assembled in the first crews, because the risks of program failure were quite large, and if we started assembling this station from Mir, we would already have cabins, we would have some kind of systems. Of course, the station would continue to degrade further from the point of view of failure of certain systems, but as a volume it would be in great demand by us and it is a pity that it was drowned before it gave up everything that it could give. – You are the first Russian who flew as part of the American shuttle crew. Tell us about your feelings, because this is a completely different technique.

Sergey Krikalev: Without Gagarin's flight, further space exploration would have been impossible. EXCLUSIVE

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  FOLLOWING

  Yuri Krikalev: It was very interesting for me after I flew three expeditions in two flights, because on the second flight there were two expeditions in a row, I already knew the Mir station by touch, the Soyuz spacecraft – down to the smallest details. It is difficult to come and start training anew, but on the other hand, it is very interesting, because you get the opportunity to broaden your horizons, compare our and American equipment, and see where there are advantages. The program was interesting for me. It was also difficult due to the limited preparation time. The training was conducted in English. The basic skills obtained in a technical university were not enough, I had to catch up. But many Americans, once in the cosmonaut corps, for the first year do not understand what they are talking about, because there are so many special terms and abbreviations that even native speakers have difficulties in understanding what they are talking about.

  – Does the flight itself feel different there? In the Soyuz, the cosmonaut sits in an enclosed space and does not see what is happening overboard, while the shuttle has windows.

  Yuri Krikalev: The shuttle has windows, but only the first two cosmonauts look through them. The others also see nothing. In fact, in this sense, it is even worse there than on the Soyuz, there is no porthole on the middle deck. From the point of view of physical sensations, there is little difference. Nobody canceled the laws of physics. And as many said, “Buran” and shuttles are similar. And the planes are similar: Boeings, Tu, and Airbuses have approximately the same wing shape and ratio of length to wingspan. But even such different ships as the Soyuz and the shuttle have the same launch schedule, that is, in about 10 minutes the spacecraft must accelerate to the same speed as the first space one. The feeling of overload, the feeling of vibration is a little more there at one stage, with us – at the other. The capsule itself is closer, but after docking you immediately enter a large volume, and here there is more space in the shuttle than in the capsule, but significantly less than at the station. Someone from the Americans compared: your system is like the fact that you go to a large laboratory in a minicar, and the shuttle is like a truck cabin, which is more spacious than a minicar, but it is less convenient to conduct experiments in it than in a laboratory.

  – This year the “Science” module is to be docked to the station. Given that the plant's service life has been extended to 2028, isn't it too costly to use this potential for only seven years?

  Yuri Krikalev: First, about the potential – this module is not very new, I think it will work normally for these seven years. To understand the general picture: the first Salyut station operated with one expedition, then two expeditions worked and the longest-lived Salyut station flew for four years. It was a whole generation. Four years for the station is a good time. We just got used to the fact that Mir flew for a very long time, the ISS flies for a very long time. And the ISS was created for only 15 years. Therefore, 10 years, seven or eight years of operation of the station in a certain configuration is a very good time, so it is worth it.

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