CHANGE IN REQUIREMENTS FOR THE COSMO/ASTRONAUTS

Sergej Krikalyov (SK): But what is changing recently in requirements is the switching between different tasks. Currently we still have a limited crew onboard (3 people continuously). The number of tasks and the number of fields the cosmo/astronauts are working in are getting more and more complex and you need to be able to switch between tasks frequently.

With this increasing complexity of flights we need to ensure that crewmembers are able to deal with this within an international environment and to be able to adapt to different philosophies and to different approaches. That is probably the new expertise that the crew is required to have. One of the most important cosmo/astronauts’ trait is patience. This is essential for long duration flight, for the long training period prior to that and also for future missions to Moon or Mars. Cosmo/astronauts have to be able to sustain the training well.

PERCEPTION OF SPACE IN ZERO-GRAVITY IN DISTINCTION TO THE SIMULATORS

SK: The simulator has basically the same structure as the real vehicle; in the Russian programme, we test the hardware, and the more withstanding piece flies and the other one stays as backup on the ground. So this piece becomes the simulator. Therefore the simulator really has the same structure as the real one flying in space.

When you trained on the ground then you have to use your imagination in zero-gravity; maybe it is difficult for the first flight but then with my second flight, I remember, when I walked in the simulator again - when floor is floor and ceiling is ceiling again - I needed to use my imagination to understand how I can use this wall in space.

I think actually the difference between the simulator and the real flight, the difference of what I expected using the simulator and what I really saw was not so big. But then I remember my feeling when after the flight I came to the simulator again and it looked really empty. In the real vehicle you have a lot of stuff attached to the walls, to the ceiling, you have some bags, some cables, something behind panels, it is really a living environment.

I did not have problems with orientation. Everything was very close to what I expected.

CONNECTION BETWEEN THE INTERIOR DESIGN AND THE PERFORMANCE OF THE CREW

There is a dependency. On the Russian side we used to have light on one side, basically light on the ceiling and paint of different colours on the floor but in one of the modules - we saw that in the early assembly of the space station - in the Node module lights came from different sides and I found that difficult especially for people who had less experience in space and in weightlessness. After they had worked in a specific area, they turned several times and then when they needed to go somewhere (because space up there is close to be symmetrical) they spent a few seconds to try to orient themselves to be sure that they are going into the right direction. So I think a good design will help you to save this moment of disorientation.

In space even when you bend a little bit, you can change your body position easily. For some task it is important to use both hands, so you have to have your body steady, and for this you need handrails. You use your feet as hands and we have restrains on the walls, on the floor to fix ourselves. Some times, it might be inconvenient; this is due to lack of experience, basically you just need to touch the restraints slightly and that is enough to stabilize you.

PRIVACY - CREW QUARTERS

SK: It is important to have privacy. I agree that every crewmember needs to have his/her own space. Not necessarily to be closed off from the others but a place where you put your things, where you can put it in the way you like, and you know that they are going to be in the same place you put it. Because when you put it in a common place then someone can move it away. So I think it is important to have space of your own; not necessarily a private space.

DISTINCTION BETWEEN PRIVATE AND WORK SPACES

SK: It probably depends on how many people work on space station, because if only two people work and live on the station I treat this environment as my job environment and my home. If you have a bigger crew especially when the crew works in shifts then you probably need more private spaces and be able to escape other people so you can stay on your own. But in the current ISS configuration I do not think it is so critical.

CREW COMPARTMENTS FOR EXCHANGING CREWS

SK: This is not necessary. Our experience was the following: it is difficult to provide additional crew quarters because sometimes the visiting crew is pretty big. To have private places of your own or on station is not that important then. What usually happens: I come as new crewmember and the old crewmember occupies the crew quarter. What we usually do, we let them live in the space they used to live... we use a temporary place for a while and then when the previous crew leaves we start occupying the place we like or any other convenient place and then stay until the end of the flight. For a few days you may have some kind of curtain but basically it is not necessary.

LEISURE: WHAT ARE THE GAMES YOU PLAY ON ISS

SK: There is no game, sometimes we play with weightlessness, we make some jokes … Some pictures may be misunderstood; because it seems that when you see astronauts on the video, they do funny things, they play with food or with some kind of toys and it seems that they do this 50% of their time. In reality it is 1% but it is probably 50% (of the 1% of the time) when they can use a camera. Because when you do experiments you have no luxury to film, when you do physical exercise you do not use a camera. So you only have a small amount of free time then you can use a camera. Then you can play with small objects or small items. I remember we tried to make a kind of basket ball, and we actually found a (ball) spherical foam, it was not really a basketball and we tried to pretend that we are playing basketball, but we were just pretending;

You know, usually we are so busy that there is not enough time to sleep. So if you have 6 hours of sleep and you would try to invent another game, you would reduce your sleep time from 6 hours to 4 hours; that would be kind of stupid.

WINDOWS

SK: One window is located in the Destiny laboratory module (lab), on the Russian side we have 7 windows. One is exactly the same (in size) as in the lab and then there are seven other small ones available. So we have a much better view from the Russian side.

The destiny window is not very convenient. Actually, because there will be a rack in front of the window. This rack shall provide equipment for Earth observation. On the Russian side we have several windows on the floor, into the same direction as the big window, we have several small ones, we have two windows looking sideways and in another module looking towards Earth we have one window looking forward, left, right and backwards. And we have enough handrails around to be able to fixate yourself.

Actually in reality after a while you do not need handrails or any kind of fixing mechanism, you can just free float, maybe have one attachment point and then free float around.

One friend of mine when I just arrived to the (MIR) station for the first time he told me that he would not even hold his binoculars in his hands, because even a small shaking of his hands will disturb the vision, so he let it stay free-floating and to follow the ground he had it just slightly rotating but he would not touch it at all. So, imagine, the astronaut is floating, the binoculars are floating and he is looking through the floating unit floating himself; and actually he used his eyelashes sometimes to correct the rotation speed. But that is advanced technique.

HYGIENE FACILITIES

SK: We use wet towels. The hygiene facility is in the FGB module. But just recently I heard that the crew has been asking permission to use the ATV (Automated Transfer Vehicle, a European, vehicle which has docked to space station in June 2008 for the first time). Any free volume can be used for that. Maybe it is not good to use it in front of the window because droplets of water or soap solution can get onto the glass and then you need to clean the window. Sometimes we can add a little more hot water onto our wet towels and then it is just a little more wet. And if you put too much then small droplets can float away. But we try to avoid that.