The fate of many months-long expeditions: you fly away from one reality, you fly back to another. About how these five perceived the new world upon their return, what they are going to do next, the MK correspondent found out.
Let me remind you that the first two stages of the SIRIUS (Scientific International Research In Unique terrestrial Station) experiment took place in 2017 and 2019 and lasted 17 and 120 days, respectively. The current one lasted 240 days – from November last year.
As Director of the Institute of Biomedical Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Oleg Orlov said even before the opening of the hatch, this project is one of the important stages in the activities of the International Center for the Development of a System for Medical and Biological Support of Interplanetary Flights, created on the basis of the Institute. On the US side, Orlov’s co-director was David Baumann, director of NASA’s Human Research Program, who specially flew in from across the ocean to meet the “lunar” crew.
And now this moment has come: the hatch was opened, and the ladder went down to us: crew commander Oleg Blinov, crew doctor Victoria Kirichenko, flight engineer Ashley Kowalski (by the way, a representative of the US Space Systems Command), researcher William Brown, researcher Saleh Omar Ameri. There was another Russian researcher Ekaterina Karyakina in the crew, but she withdrew from the experiment on the 33rd day of the “flight” due to an injury.
According to legend, it took the crew 8 days to get to the lunar orbit, docked with the lunar orbital station. On the 61st day of the mission, its members went to the “surface of the moon”, where they moved in a space suit using virtual reality technology. They took soil samples, drove the lunar rover with … outstretched arms. For the first time, scientists have simulated lunar, reduced gravity for them on a unique stand with an adaptive signage system.
Among the scientific experiments were studies of immunity, a lot of physiological, psychological studies, work with plants from the onboard greenhouse – specialists from 15 (!) Countries participated in the work. But it was interesting for us to hear what the participants themselves remember most about the expedition.
– It was difficult to get used to the new conditions of isolation, – said the commander Oleg Blinov, – Almost everything was different here, and we, like children, learned everything anew.
He thanked his wife, who agreed to such a long separation, as well as his entire crew, for the fact that, despite many difficult moments, they all endured and completed the mission. After Oleg handed over the microphone to Saleh Omar Ameri … In response to the proposal of the chief project manager Mark Samuilovich Belakovsky to cede the right to the first performance after the commander to an American woman Ashley Kowalski, Blinov replied: “We don’t have boys and girls here, we are all equal members of the same crew “.
But the turn came to Ashley … The hardest thing, according to her, was getting used to the monotony of everyday life.
– When the moment came for our exit to the “lunar surface”, we were all so glad to change the situation! Kowalski recalls. “But what was it like when you came back to understand that for the remaining months you would again be in this enclosed space. The hardest thing for me was to keep motivation, energy for further work.
But the journalists, of course, were more interested in what it was like for the members of the international crew to hear about what happened on Earth on February 24 …
– Were you afraid of changes after returning? the testers were asked. After all, it happened that long-term expeditions ended for participants in real space flights, for example, with the fact that they flew away from one country and returned to another (this, for example, happened with Sergei Krikalev, who flew away from the USSR, but returned already in Russia).
“We realized that anything could happen on Earth during our “flight” anywhere in the world,” the crew commander replied. “And no matter what happened, we were not afraid to return. We must perceive everything that happens as historical phenomena … Now we will have more time to get acquainted with everything that happened, in all aspects.
Then the conversation turned to what the “cosmonauts” want most of all now, having descended “to Earth”.
What do I want besides a greasy piece of pizza? quipped William Brown. – Of course human contact. I’m welcomed here by my friends, so hopefully we’ll hug them soon!
– I was very stressed by the situation with the communication delay “on the moon”! I really want to have a normal conversation with my loved ones – I’m really looking forward to my phone! Ashley Kowalski replied.
Despite the fact that the official languages during the experiment were Russian and English, the crew members, according to them, used their own: “Russian-English”, which has long been used by mixed crews on the space station.
But in this “flight” they had to learn another language – Arabic. He was taught by the representative of the United Arab Emirates Saleh Omar Ameri. Therefore, during the briefing, each member of the crew flashed, speaking in three languages at once, out of respect for his colleague.
Now all “cosmonauts” will have to undergo a medical examination at the Institute of Biomedical Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences within two weeks, and only after that they will be able to go home.
By the way, the head of HRP, David Baumann, promised that his organization, no matter what, plans to continue experiments within the framework of SIRIUS in Russia. After all, the fourth stage of the project is planned for 2023-24 – the annual “flight to Mars”.