Sergei Krikalyov: “At that time, many changes were taking place on Earth”
Kirill Smirnov, Arguments and Facts, April 12, 2022
An honorary citizen of our city, exclusively for the Petersburg Diary, told how his legendary return to Earth from a space flight took place 30 years ago.
A&F: Sergei Konstantinovich, you are an excellent student in life, aren’t you?
Sergei: Nearly perfect. In principle, I studied well both at school and at the institute. The exact sciences were especially easy for me.
A&F: Exact sciences were easy for you, but at the same time you showed excellent results in sports. Uncommon combination …
Sergei: Yes, if someone is seriously involved in sports, then less time and energy is left for study. But I had enough for both. And when I entered the institute, I became interested in flying.
A&F: Born in Leningrad, did you study at the 77th school?
Sergei: The first two classes I studied at the 91st school, which was then located on Oleg Koshevoy Street now Vvedenskaya. – Ed.. But from the third grade, a second shift was introduced there, and this began to interfere with my sports. I moved to the 77th specialized chemical school, which I graduated from.
A&F: And after that you went to Voenmekh?
Sergei: Yes, although before entering I had some hesitation. For example, I thought about going to study at a flight school. But I decided to get an engineering education first. I did not immediately decide on the institute, because, leafing through reference books for applicants to universities, I did not pay attention to the specialty “design and manufacture of aircraft.” Later it turned out that under the aircraft meant missiles. At that moment, the first Leningrad cosmonaut, Voenmekh graduate Georgii Mikhailovich Grechko, flew into space. And my doubts about the choice of institute and specialty disappeared.
A&F: Finished your studies, went to work … But how did it happen that in February 1988 you started preparing for your first flight?
Sergei: From the very beginning, I understood that the greatest probability of getting into the cosmonaut corps was to start working at the Energia Research and Production Association, better known as the Korolyov Design Bureau after the Soviet scientist, designer of rocket and space systems, chairman of the Council of Chief Designers of the USSR Sergei Korolyov. – Ed., After all, all civilian astronauts came from there. When I graduated with honors, I had the right to choose the distribution. As a result, at the end of the graduation project, I went to work in the city of Kaliningrad (now Korolyov) near Moscow. At that time, there were quite a few young people at the enterprise, and many of them applied to the team of test engineers (as future cosmonauts were called at the enterprise). Then came a rather difficult period of selection: first, medical commissions, then examinations for professional knowledge, after which the most-most accepted as candidates for the cosmonaut corps.
A&F: And then a few years of training?
Sergei: In 1983, I began to pass the selection, and I was enrolled as a candidate for the detachment in 1985. Before that, there were quite difficult exams. In 1986, having completed general space training, I immediately got into the crew. Since I was a master of sports in aerobatics, I was offered to take part in the new program of the Buran spacecraft, and for almost two years I was trained as a crew member.
A&F: But in 1988 the situation changes, and instead of Buran you find yourself a participant in the preparation for the main expedition on the Soyuz spacecraft?
Sergei: Yes, since the beginning of February, I have had a very intensive preparation for participation as a flight engineer for the main crew. And in November 1988, I went on my first space flight – it was the fourth long-term expedition to the orbital station (OS) Mir.
A&F: You will stay there for 151 days, and when you return back in April 1989, will you immediately begin to prepare for the second flight?
Sergei: Before returning to Earth, we had to mothball the station. We flew home, and after rehabilitation, I was assigned to the crew with Anatoli Artsebarskii on the ninth expedition to the Mir OS.
A&F: With a woman in the carriage with you?
Sergei: During the shift change with the previous crew, it was possible to bring a guest aboard the station for a short time. This is what happened to Helen Sharman, an astronaut from the UK. She prepared with us and started, we worked for a week, and then the eighth expedition, flying away, took her to Earth with her. I must say that before that, Japanese and French cosmonauts flew in the same scenario, and then other international partners.
A&F: Can we say that they were the first space tourists?
Sergei: No. They were astronaut-researchers because for them it was a professional job. And they were representatives of their space agencies. So they flew not just for the sensations, but for the sake of science.
A&F: Let’s talk a little more about everyday impressions. When a person is in orbit, does the appetite decrease?
Sergei: Only at first because of some physical discomfort. Soon everything will be back to normal, but after a while such special food just starts to get boring. Still, this is canned or completely dehydrated food, which, in order for it to turn into normal, must be diluted with water, giving it the opportunity to recover. However, fresh food was delivered to us on the cargo ship: oranges, onions and garlic. The lack of normal Earthly products is one of the difficulties that must be overcome. But the most significant thing is still water, each liter of which is extremely valuable. Therefore, for example, for washing you save grams of water, only dreaming of the opportunity to dive into the bath or swim in the pool.
A&F: The legend says that in May 1991 you took the Soviet flag with you on a flight. Is this fact or fiction?
Sergei: As usual, this is the truth, overgrown with implausible details. Our program included an interesting experiment – the assembly of a 15-meter truss in outer space. We proposed to hoist the Soviet flag on it. Everyone agreed that the idea was good, but nothing was done. Then, already at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, someone still ran for the flag to the local store, and we took it into our personal belongings. In the end, we mounted the farm and hoisted a flag on it during a spacewalk.
A&F: You found yourself in space at the moment when the state system is changing on Earth, in our country. Did you know what is happening in the Motherland?
Sergei: At that time, many changes were taking place on the Earth. But we knew about the situation. Every day we contacted the specialists of the Mission Control Center and carried on not only official conversations – we were also given news.
A&F: Were you worried?
Sergei: Certainly. It was more like this: people on Earth were worried about us, and we were probably even more worried about them.
A&F: Nevertheless, you planned that at the end of 1991 …
Sergei: The next expedition was supposed to fly to us, and we were supposed to be changed. This is already a standard pattern.
A&F: … But that doesn’t happen.
Sergei: Due to technical problems, the next two flights (with the Austrian and Kazakh cosmonauts) were combined into one. Flight Director Valerii Ryumin suggested that I stay on one more expedition – it would be easier for everyone. I said that I should evaluate whether I have enough strength. He asked how much time there is to make a decision – a day, two? And Valery Ryumin says: “In 3 hours, let’s get in touch again and decide.”
A&F: Here you are in space, and you need to make a decision. How can you understand if you have enough strength or not?
Sergei: To some extent, this is an attempt at true self-esteem. After all, I thereby took the risk on myself, it was my responsibility. That situation can be compared to a running distance: as if you are running five kilometers, you have already run three, you think that you have less than half left. And then they say: “Now we are running not five kilometers, but ten.” At this moment, you are forced to drastically change the pace of your movement …
A&F: And psychologically reorganize …
Sergei: Yes, reorganize psychologically and tactically. To get to the end of the distance, at that moment I had to rethink the need to comply with the regime, start spending a little more time on recovery so that I had the strength to get to the finish line.
A&F: And at that time, the European media actively wrote that the Soviet cosmonaut became a prisoner in space.
Sergei: It didn’t reach us very clearly. I received fragmentary information about this. By the way, some of this information came to me from a radio amateur from Australia thanks to the amateur radio that was at the station. During one of the broadcasts, I met a school computer science teacher from Australia. She and I arranged lessons from space: she gathered the children in her radio room, and we answered their questions in broken English. One day she asks: “Sergei, how do you feel? Here they write in the media that you have become a prisoner and are so weak that you no longer have the strength to return to Earth.” I then laughed it off: “You generally live in Australia upside down in relation to everyone else, so you have the same news.”
A&F: How did you maintain your physical condition while on board?
Sergei: During a space flight, it is necessary to engage in planned physical education. For example, on the ISS International Space Station – Ed. we have a treadmill, a bicycle ergometer, expanders, exercise equipment. There is a system of exercises that allows you to load the muscles so as to stay in good shape. Of course, after the flight, recovery and rehabilitation are still required, but playing sports allows you to stay in such physical shape in order to safely return to Earth.
A&F: Thirty years ago, on March 25, 1992, you returned to Earth, having spent a record 311 days on the ISS. Do you remember your first impressions?
Sergei: When we landed, I, as befits a flight engineer, was the last one to leave the ship. The first sensation is the ability to experience subtle smells, including snow, earth, grass and fresh air, which you usually do not pay attention to. And after a long stay inside the space of metal and plastic, they are extremely noticeable.
A&F: Because of the spacesuit in which you landed, you were called the last inhabitant of the USSR.
Sergei: There is some truth in this. It really was a spacesuit with the Soviet flag on the sleeve. It was not only troublesome, but also dangerous to tear off one flag and sew on another at the station – it was easy to damage the hermetic shell.
A&F: Upon landing, you will become a Hero of Russia. By the way, the first Hero of the new country. According to the Soviet tradition, they gave a Volga?
Sergei: Yes, indeed, such a tradition has existed since the flight of Yuri Gagarin. They gave me a car.
A&F: You are an honorary citizen of St. Petersburg. How important is this status to you?
Sergei: This title was awarded back in pre-revolutionary Russia, then there was a break, in the early 1990s the tradition was continued. When I was nominated, it was unexpected. But in the end, I became an honorary citizen of St. Petersburg in the same year as the conductor Valery Gergiev. Status is significant because there are few such people.
A&F: Nevertheless, for the last decades you have been a resident of Moscow. Are you able to visit your hometown?
Sergei: Unfortunately, not as often as we would like. But when I come, I always go to the institute, because there are still teachers who taught me. Well, I am always drawn to the places where I was born and raised – to the Petrogradsky district, where I lived a significant part of my life.
Linked from Cosmonaut news