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Sergey Krikalev: there is no need to slam the door in space
November 2, 2015
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http://www.bbc.com/russian/russia/2015/11/151102 iss 15 krikalev interview
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Copyright holder of the AP illustration
November 2 marked the 15th anniversary of the permanent life of people on the International Space Station.
The idea of an orbital house was first put forward in 1911 by the Russian scientist Konstantin Tsiolkovsky.
The first Soviet station "Salyut 1" was launched into orbit on April 4, 1971 and worked for 175 days, including 22 days with two cosmonauts on board.
In 1984, US President Ronald Reagan announced the project of the American Freedom station.
In March 1993, the Director General of the Russian Space Agency, Yuri Koptev, and the general designer of NPO Energia, Yuri Semenov, proposed to the head of NASA, Daniel Goldin, to jointly create the International Space Station.
In June of the same year, the initiative was approved by the House of Representatives of the US Congress with a margin of just one vote.
The practical work began in November 1994 and lasted for almost six years.
Copyright holder of the illustration RIA Novosti
Image caption
Sergey Krikalev flew into space six times and spent a total of 803 days in orbit
The first element of the ISS, the Russian Zarya unit, was launched into orbit on November 20, 1998, and the American Unity module docked to it on December 7.
Currently, thanks to repeated completion, the mass of the station has reached 417 tons, and the length is 109 meters.
The European module "Columbus" and the Japanese "Kibo"were added to the Russian and American ones.
The number of States participating in the project has increased to 15.
The observer of the BBC Russian Service Artem Krechetnikov talked with the participant of the first expedition to the ISS Sergey Krikalev, currently deputy director of the Central Research Institute of Mechanical Engineering (former Design Bureau of Sergei Korolev) for manned programs.
BBC:You, one might say, were at the origins of the ISS: back in 1998, the first Russians visited the station under construction, then they were part of the first permanent crew and met the XXI century on board.
Now, 15 years later, is this anniversary a holiday for you?
Sergey Krikalev: In 1998, I not only visited the ISS, but began to build it.
Then we joined the first two elements, laid two bricks in the foundation.
The preparation began even earlier, at the end of 1996, and before that I happened to take part in the very first negotiations when the technical feasibility of the project was considered.
If we talk about the significance for me of course, I constantly remember.
Today I congratulated my colleague [on the first permanent crew - the BBC] Yuri Gidzenko.
I'll call William Shepherd later because of the time difference.
It was a good start, the continuation of which we still see.
The station is flying, more than 40 crews have already worked.
Copyright holder of the AP illustration
Image caption
From left to right: Yuri Gidzenko, Sergey Krikalev and William Shepherd on board the ISS
BBC:How much time did you spend on the ISS in total?
Sergey Krikalev: About a year.
A few days in 1998, when the first two blocks were connected and the first routine maintenance was carried out, about five months in the first expedition and about six months on the 11th.
BBC:What did you remember the most?
Were there any dangerous or, on the contrary, funny moments?
Sergey Krikalev: I remember that yesterday, 15 years ago, we opened the hatch, how we swam into the dark station, how we turned on the light for the first time.
There was an unusual amount of space at the station, because there was no table, there was no equipment, which began to be added already during the first expedition.
An empty virgin station created on earth, and that's just when we started working with it.
We have been looking for electrical connectors for a long time to provide a TV report, this was one of the first works on the ISS.
That's what I remember most of all, and then the weekdays began.
There was no direct danger to life, thank God, but there were significant program risks, because at the very beginning there were a lot of critical operations to ensure the flight of the station.
Failure to activate any of the life support systems would lead to a forced early return to Earth.
Relations with the Americans have always been very close and friendly Sergey Krikalev
Therefore, the first crew included only experienced astronauts who had already flown.
This was the difficulty, there was a very strenuous work during the first expedition.
BBC:Tell us about your relations with American partners.
Although you flew to the ISS in 2000-2005, the interstate situation was different then.
Sergey Krikalev: In addition to the ISS, I had the experience of flying with the Americans on the shuttle and at the Mir station.
Our relations have always been very close and friendly.
The joint work was very tight and well coordinated.
Only three of us participated in the first expedition, and we did everything together on the Russian segment and on the American segment, there was no division by segments and by tasks.
I would not say that this is not relevant now.
Despite the political difficulties that have arisen, and probably will arise, it is impossible not to rely on a partner in a difficult and sometimes dangerous situation.
BBC:Communication and management of the American, Russian, European and Japanese segments of the ISS is carried out independently by the centers in Houston, Korolev, Oberpfafenhofen and Tsukuba.
They say that the crews are almost completely isolated?
Sergey Krikalev: Both on the first and on the 11th expedition, when after the shuttle accident we were left alone at the station with John Phillips, there was no separation at all.
Technically, the ISS is a single entity.
This means that there is one crew on board, and not several Krikalev brothers
With the development of the station's infrastructure and the transfer of the center of gravity from life support to scientific experiments, such an opportunity really appeared.
I hear from the arriving crews that the work has become more highly specialized, each in its own segment.
But technically, the ISS is a single whole, a breakdown of the power supply and other key systems in the Russian or American segment would make life impossible on the entire station.
This means that there is one crew on board, not several.
BBC:Cosmonautics has turned out to be one of the most stable areas of cooperation between Russia and the United States.
Political passions are boiling, and everything is going on as usual on the ISS.
Why?
Sergey Krikalev: Because when people are in harsh conditions of existence and solve complex non trivial tasks, everything else goes by the wayside.
BBC:This is the attitude of cosmonauts and astronauts, but they do not decide the fate of cooperation on both sides.
There is a point of view in Russia that it is necessary to build its own orbital station and see how the Americans, who have temporarily found themselves without transport ships after the closure of the Space Shuttle program, will begin to get out of the situation.
On the other hand, the creation of a new station is a long and, most importantly, costly task.
To abandon the ISS for Russia would mean to leave space altogether for some time.
Delivery of people and equipment there
"Progress" is commercially profitable, and, probably, it is not in Russia's interests to push the Americans to force work on their own "trucks".
What position prevails today?
Slamming the door and showing character is not in the nature of people who are engaged in kosmosomSergey Krikalev
Sergey Krikalev: Slamming the door and showing character is not in the nature of people who are engaged in space.
They're busy.
Why break something that works well?
Cosmonautics is a long project, it will survive current events.
It really is a model of how we can set ambitious scientific and technical tasks and solve them together, and not look for reasons to break up.
BBC:So will Russia build a new orbital station, or not?
Sergey Krikalev: I do not know any specific plans for creating something from scratch.
The possibility of an autonomous flight of the Russian segment was discussed, if the partners decide to finish work on the ISS.
But so far no one has stated this, and this is from the field of virtual hypotheses.
BBC:How long will the ISS last?
Sergey Krikalev: The project was made for 15 years, which have just expired.
This proves that the technical solutions embedded in it were correct.
So far, it has been decided to continue working until 2020.
There is a discussion of an extension until 2024 or even longer.
This is not so much a technical issue as an organizational one, since everyone has their own idea of priorities, and some programs may interfere with others, and most importantly, financial.
My opinion is that manned cosmonautics is an important vector of human development Sergey Krikalev
BBC:Is manned cosmonautics even necessary?
Different opinions are expressed both in Russia and in the world.
Sergey Krikalev: There was probably an opinion once that it was not necessary to leave the caves.
My opinion is that manned cosmonautics is an important vector of human development.
Many things can be investigated by automata, but sometimes the presence of a person is necessary, in particular, for biological experiments.
And if you look at things more broadly, then the property of all living things is the desire to expand the habitat.
Humanity has always mastered new spaces as soon as the appropriate technical means appeared: it swam across rivers, then oceans, then broke away from the earth's surface.
This is an act of self affirmation and a key element of development.
The only question is whether we will go this way faster or slower.
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