Here it is, the only interview with astronauts I have collected until now where a person talks about the personal experience of the perception of space and social components in zero-g. Claudie Haigneré, medical doctor, astronaut, former French minister of technology, describes in short and simple but precise terms her experience on MIR and on the International Space Station (ISS):

Arriving at MIR space station:

When you open the hatch and you get in - everything is different and orientation is difficult – right and left is easy but backwards and up and down is very difficult to know and to differentiate - you always get mixed up. There were colours on MIR for orientation but that did not help, you basically have to relearn how to orientate yourself.

Perception of interior space of space stations in zero-g

You train on the ground but it does not help for space - you know the basics where the main things are but when you go up there and you open the hatch, it looks different; nothing is as it was in the trainers; it is all crowded, everything looks different and you have to learn everything again, where things are and how to position yourself in the space in relation to the other things. When you arrive in microgravity you do not have the same references anymore, it is not the same space anymore as it is when you train on ground, it is crowded with stuff and it is totally different. And it is a totally different volume it is huge and you realize that you live in a volume not in an area (plane).

Privacy:

Privacy is very important even for short duration missions, I did not have any private space – I slept in the airlock next to a Skafander (Russian space suit) and some containers, but actually you need a place for your own.

Interpersonal communication with the other 2 Russian crewmembers:

You need to learn 18 months of Russian to qualify for flying with the Russians and you need to train a long time to get confident with the Russians - we need to be a family.

Space tourists:

Space tourists do not really fit on the space station because it is an expensive laboratory. Space tourists shall not hinder but they need a cosmonaut who has to take care of them. They also need training so they are more autonomous and they do not take actual crew time. I was there to do my experiments - only for short duration flights: 20 Days on ISS 2001 and 10 days on MIR 1996.

Would you fly again?

No; if you can be an actor within your life and have a chance to live in different environments – for example I am a medical doctor, I am a scientist, and I was French minister of technology, actually there are so many things one can do...

Now I have a little daughter; she is nine; she is the prolongation of my life and I have to take care of her.

Barbara Imhof and Claudie Haigneré 24.9.2007, 58th IAC, Hyderabad, India

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Claudie Haigneré

Selected as an astronaut: 9. September 1985
number of spaceflights: 2
first spaceflight: 17. August 1996
second spaceflight: 6. Oktober 2001
resigned from the astronaut corps: Juni 2002

spaceflights:

Mir-Cassiopée (Sojus TM-24/Sojus TM-23 (1996)) - Soyuz-TM24
15d.18h.23m.37s.

ISS Andromède Sojus TM-33/Sojus TM-32 (2001)
25d.14h.24m.02s.

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claudie_Haigneré
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claudie_Haigneré
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claudie_Haigneré