NASA astronaut Sunita Williams on humanity in space
IN RUBRIC "BUSINESS" We acquaint readers with women of different professions and hobbies that we like or are simply interested in. In this issue, an officer of the United States Navy, astronaut NASA, a record holder in the number of spacewalks among women and a record holder in the amount of time spent in open space among women Sunita Williams.
My father immigrated from India to the USA, not knowing a word in English. His parents died when he was very young, and despite the hard work of a newcomer, he managed to get on his feet and get the profession of a doctor. Mom is very strong and never gives up. They constantly encouraged me and always supported me. Probably, I can say that these two people are my main inspiration in life. I have a husband, and we are both from the military sphere. Unfortunately, we have no children - we are constantly on the road, which, as you understand, makes having children problematic. We have dogs - two wonderful Labrador retrievers. I really miss them in space, sometimes my husband even says: "You constantly tell me how much you don’t have enough of them. Maybe one day, for a change, you say that you miss me?"
Most of all in space, I dreamed of pizza and take a shower. It is generally interesting with food - all food is dehydrated there, and we introduce injections with water into tubes, following the results of getting soup - borsch, for example, or soup. We have ready lasagna, fajitos or even porridge. Still have the opportunity to take their own food. My mother is from Slovenia, so one day she gave me sausage for a flight, Jura (Malenchenko) had special Russian food with her, and Aki (Hosido) had miso soup straight from Japan. We always eat together. There is really not enough bread in space.
Before the first flight at the start, you are hampered by the feeling of unreality of what is happening, but it lasts a few seconds. You have been preparing for two and a half years, seemingly you have no chance to fly - does this really happen? You're really flying into space! The team and I began to laugh hysterically and shout, "My God! My God!" At the start, vibration, heat and engine starting are felt, and about seven and a half minutes remain before entering the space. There is another good indicator that you are already there - each team chooses a flight mascot. Our commander Yury Malenchenko chose a small plastic doll, and when her hair began to rise, it became clear that we were in space. By the way, every time when I think that age makes itself felt and it’s time to have a haircut, it is the cosmos that stops me - the hair there flutters so funny.
Upstairs - one continuous International. All cosmonauts are learning Russian, we speak it, we can receive commands on it and, of course, it is necessary when you are on the Soyuz - you speak Russian in Russian. Unfortunately, this is never Tolstoy, but a technically rich language, with acronyms and engineering terms. At the international space station, everyone speaks English, which helps especially when you fly with representatives of European nations with a diversity of their languages.
There are, of course, moments of powerlessness in space. For example, in the six months that you spend upstairs, something is happening on Earth. During 9/11 in an attempt to cope with stress, astronauts took photographs every time they flew over New York. These photographs were then published in a variety of publications. And if there is a fire on the space station and you want to get out of there, then you climb into your ship - and so you get home.
The feeling that someone is controlling us and that someone is definitely TAM is not leaving
After space, the sense of time, oddly enough, does not change, although I, of course, would like to go home and be ten years younger. A typical day on Earth is about 90 minutes in space, we see 16 sunrises and sunsets per day, and therefore we are trying to maintain a normal mode: exercise every day, and in our free time we listen to music or read. One of my favorite moments is to sit under the dome, a huge panoramic glass, consisting of six windows, and watch the stars. On Earth, we do not understand how many stars there are in the sky, there are just a billion of them, and they do not look like in a planetarium, but fill in all the space. The feeling that someone is driving us and someone is definitely TAM is not leaving.
Communication with the house is maintained regularly. We have something like the internal wi-fi, with which we communicate, and the Internet in space is very slow - just like on old modems: the signal goes from us to the satellite, then back. Although we regularly tweet, it’s really not possible to respond promptly. Everyone loves to take photos, call home via videoconference and receive emails from family about what you missed from events on Earth during your time in space.
I understand Sandra Bullock from Gravity and that feeling of fear. Although everything that happened was more or less unreal, for example, a Chinese ship with which she figured out, she would have put a stupor in life - you can’t just take and use a ship built on other technologies. But it is likely to saddle the vacuum cleaner. When I got into situations that frightened me, I understood how we were attached to gravity, and that all gravity, in fact, was in our heads. So we had to close our eyes and imagine how we would rehearse an unexpected event on Earth and in the pool where we train. And calmed down.
The heaviest thing in the body is the head, so when you come back, it is simply very difficult to lift it. Once I came to meet a friend after arriving in Kazakhstan, he rushed towards joyful, and I walked with my head down and met him with the words "Oh, I see your shoes." To restore, astronauts are usually given a day, at this time nobody calls or disturbs us, and the musculature starts to work as usual. You also come back from space in the best physical form, since we train there every day. Therefore, things smell a little - they cannot be washed at the top.
When you return home, the first thing you hear is the smell of the earth.
There is no sexism in the cosmos. You see, we spend a lot of time together, we eat together, we train together, and by the time you get into space, any questions or comments about gender equality simply do not make sense. Before the flight, we did simulations together, workouts for work in space, and operations with a roboruka. If we talk about me, I have become accustomed to this position of an eternal minority for my entire life path - there were ten men per woman at the university, about 80% of men in the navy, and they prevail among astronauts. It seems to me that in order to succeed in all these areas, you must, first of all, stop thinking about it. Secondly, make sure that you are competent at all levels and that you have the skills of a team member - a good follower and a great leader at the same time. Thirdly, there must be excellent physical training - for example, centrifuge training or piloting experience. With all this chauvinistic commentary you will never hear. For example, I have never encountered them once, although it is likely that I was just lucky. Currently, several women are preparing for the flight, one of them is Russian - Lena Serova, she is flying in the fall. She proved that she is quite a qualified member of the team, and I am sure that she will also like it in space.
Valentina Tereshkova was inspired by a whole generation of women astronauts, and I personally admire her endlessly. She is a terrific woman, they are also said to be ahead of their time. I admire how she got into a rut, mostly filled with men, and did it long before all of us. We saw each other once on the memorial of Yuri Gagarin on the anniversary of his death. She seemed very elegant to me, such a Lady in the full sense of the word. But I must admit that it is very tough. After all, among other things, she had to prove what an outstanding skydiver she was - the then spacecraft were much more demanding than the current ones and had to descend from the ship with a parachute.
The difference between the cosmos and the Earth is in smells and sensations. When you return home, the first thing you hear is the smell of the earth. There are no plants in the cosmos, no soil, and once, when we landed in California, I felt the smell of wormwood that grows everywhere there. Although it is cold in Moscow now, I am glad that I can feel the piercing wind, I can feel the scent of grass and see the trees - on Earth we take it for granted. I only wish life was longer and I could fulfill my childhood dream of working as a veterinarian, because I love animals so much. I hope that in old age, no matter where my husband and I are, I will have ten dogs and a couple of horses.
photographer: Rajden Gamezardashvili