Blog
See what Richard has to say and keep track of the mission.


FEBRUARY 29, 2008
Can You Hear Me Now?

Nik and I had one examination this week about the Soyuz’s communications systems, something for which we both crammed late Th . . . » CONTINUE READING

FEBRUARY 27, 2008
Spacecraft Heating and Cooling Systems 101
This week was a short one, with Monday being a public holiday for “Defense of the Homeland Day,” also referred to as “Men’s Day” (to be followed on March 8 by “Wome . . . » CONTINUE READING



FEBRUARY 27, 2008
Scrimping on the Studies to Keep the Blog Faithful Happy
While this week (February 18-24) was an eventful one, the blog will have to be much shorter than usual! I am starting to fall behind in my “studies”….

We s . . . » CONTINUE READING

FEBRUARY 26, 2008
More of Soyuz and a Well-Earned Night Out
We covered stabilization planes in our class on Wednesday. As you might expect, distributing weight and positioning thrusters is a big deal, but I won’t go into all the boring engineering and me . . . » CONTINUE READING
FEBRUARY 26, 2008
"Hot Separation" Anxieties
On Wednesday, we discussed the structure of the Soyuz launch vehicle and the process of launch and landing. The three-stage rocket is 51 meters high, weighs 310 tons, and lifts seven tons of payload i . . . » CONTINUE READING
FEBRUARY 26, 2008
Ham Radio and Doing the Business in Space
Tuesday was another packed day! We started with a great meeting at Star City’s HAM shack, as its known here. There we met with Vladimir Zagaynov (ham call sign UA3DKR) and Valentine Kryukov, of . . . » CONTINUE READING
FEBRUARY 26, 2008
Getting to Know Soyuz
This has been my best week yet, with loads of interesting activities. Here are the pick of the highlights:

On Monday, Nik and I donned our new suits to be formally introduced . . . » CONTINUE READING

FEBRUARY 12, 2008
Mardi Gras, Lunar New Year, and a Big Speech on the Horizon
This week, NASA and Russia’s Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center (GCTC) have been conducting winter survival training, and so every couple nights, the NASA folks would have a dinner to welcome the . . . » CONTINUE READING
FEBRUARY 11, 2008
Getting Into the Mardi Gras Spirit for the Weekend
I had my second day of Russian classes on Friday, where I met my other teacher. Having two teachers will give me the chance to learn from two different styles of teaching and pronunciation, as well as . . . » CONTINUE READING
FEBRUARY 11, 2008
HOMEWORK!
I started Russian classes today, writing down all the Russian words I could remember before I went. My list numbered less than a hundred, though that was more than I had expected. When I arrived at cl . . . » CONTINUE READING