Cultural Differences

There are three aspects of spaceflight that always interest med and I always try to learn more about them; history, traditions, and cultural differences. 

The further we go, the more history we have. I believe it to be essential to never forget the beginnings and so looking back 30, 40 or even 50 years is so important to me. Many of us did not witness Vostok-1, Mercury, Gemini or even the Apollo program. Learning about those missions, the women and men working on them, the problems they had to overcome and the solutions they found, is an important part of understanding the present and improving upon the future. 

Traditions somewhat tie into the history. Some event triggered the need for a certain tradition. And there are many traditions found in US and Russian Space Flight history. 

Cultural differences is another fascinating aspect and I truly believe that over the years these differences have become less and less of a factor. We are adapting, adjusting, learning, and respecting. Will these differences go away someday? I do not think so - I do not hope so. Culture defines who we are and the differences between our cultures, provide wonderful opportunity to reach out and learn. 

I would like to tell you about a couple of differences between our US culture and the Russian culture in regards to our training here at Star City.


Exams
Exams in Russia are quite a bit different than I am used to. Nothing is written. A panel of 5-10 people gather with your instructor and over the course of an hour ask questions. I am typically sitting in the front of the room with an interpreter. It feels very formal. They always begin with "tell us about the purpose of this system and it's components" but they often get very detailed quickly. If they find an area where your knowledge is weak, they typically ask many additional questions, which can be somewhat embarrassing. Your instructor takes your performance very personally. If you do well, it reflects well on them. They will quickly jump to your defense if someone asks a question which you haven't been taught. It is really interesting.

Often there will be an expert from the design team (Energia) in the audience which means tougher questions, but you also get direct access to someone building the hardware. The Russians have flown the Soyuz since 1967, but the design is constantly evolving so having them show up is great access to
the most current information.

Hand-shake
At the first greeting of the day with someone, you must shake their hand. But, never shake hands through a doorway...this is bad luck. Always walk into the room first and then shake their hand. And if you are wearing gloves, you must take them off first. And if you pass that person later in the day it is impolite to shake their hand again.

Whistling Inside
It is also bad luck to whistle inside, which I had a hard time getting used to.

Good Luck Wish
People are very superstitious here. Before an exam, they don’t wish each other “luck” because that would bring bad luck - instead they say “no tar, no feathers” (Ни пуха ни пера) – and the response is “go to hell” or more nicely, “go to see the devil.” (К чёрту). The picture here on this entry is what you will find if you googled the first comment. Fitting, don't you think?

Being intimate with the Russian ЭПП Electrical Food Warmer

 

Today was a fairly easy day. Canadian Astronaut David Saint-Jacques (he is @Astro_DavidS on Twitter) and I were learning about some of the ISS components inside the Russian segments. First, let me tell you a little about David. 

(on a site note, when we first met, he reminded me of The Wiz in Seinfeld - I wish I had a crown with me for him to put on! Ok, off topic, sorry David)

Born in Quebec, raised outside of Montreal, Canada, David speaks French and English fluently. But not just that. He has a pretty good handle on Spanish, Russian and Japanese! What's even more amazing, David has a medical background and an astrophysics one! Plus he has a commercial pilot license! His postdoctoral research included the development and application of the Mitaka Infrared Interferometer in Japan and the Subaru Telescope Adaptive Optics System in Hawaii.

After that he joined the Astrophysics group at Université de Montréal. His international experience also includes engineering study and work in France and Hungary and medical training in Lebanon and Guatemala.

In October of 2011 David was part of the NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations project, known as NEEMO. 

NEEMMO sends groups of astronauts, engineers, doctors and professional divers to live in an underwater habitat for up to three weeks at a time. These crew members, called aquanauts, live in Aquarius, the world's only undersea laboratory, located about 19 metres below the surface, 5.6 km off Key Largo in the Florida Keys.

David was a crew member of NEEMO 15, the first undersea mission to simulate a visit to an asteroid. For part of the mission, he was supported by his colleague CSA Astronaut Jeremy Hansen who, as CAPCOM, provided information and directions from the Key Largo surface to the NEEMO 15 team.

The undersea environment is the closest analogue on Earth to a gravity-weak asteroid, making it the best place to test relevant exploration concepts. During NEEMO 15 the crew evaluated different strategies for anchoring themselves to its surface, traveling along its terrain and collecting data. They also coordinated their efforts with DeepWorker submersibles, one-seater submarines built and developed by Nuytco in British Columbia, Canada.

Told you, David is another one of those interesting people to get to meet and know. 

Anyway, today I learned about the Russian ЭПП Food Warmer. David told me to get "intimately" familiar with the device. Since I always follow instructions...

The electric food warmer is designed to heat foods in cans, and plastic pouches.

The ЭПП consists of a heater, an automated unit, and a control panel. The warmer contains a number of cells for heating food. The heating elements inside the cells conform to the shape of the various packages.

The Service Module has two food warmers, “Подогреватель пищи 1”, “Подогреватель пищи 2” (Food warming 1, Food warming 2), connected to onboard outlets. The foods are warmed to 65°C (149°F) within 30 minutes. The food warmer operates automatically. The foods are inserted into the warmer to the maximum depth of the cells. Any combination of foods may be warmed – from one meal ration to four.

I am glad that David realized that giving me instructions like "get yourself intimately familiar with..." just don't work all that well with me. Glad we first learned about the food warmer and not the Russian space toilette...

Life in Star City, Russia

I've been asked to share some inside information about life in Star City and also about my Astro buddy Reid Wiseman. So, tonight we had a group dinner and I thought this would be the perfect time to share some personal stuff. See, when you come from a different culture and you get to a new place,  with different alphabet, a different language and a different culture, it really just feels nice and homey getting together with your friends and having a relaxed group dinner.

Tonight we all sat down together; Flight Surgeon Blake Camberlain, Astronaut Chris Cassidy and Astronaut Reid Wiseman (and me, of course) and enjoyed a delicious group dinner. They do them 1-2 times a week with whoever happens to be around.

Last night, after Reid turned off the lights and we were just resting in our beds, I asked Reid how he felt to be here again.

Reid explained to me that this is his third of 12 trips to Star City for training. Most trips are four weeks long.

Now since he has two little kids at home these trips are somewhat tough when he has to say goodbye every other month. They don’t understand why Dad is leaving so they are usually more than willing to tell him how sad it makes them when he leaves.

Aside from that, life in Star City is very comfortable. Reid really enjoys seeing and learning the cultural differences here. Almost everyone lives in very small two bedroom apartments which results in a much more active outdoor social life.

Despite freezing cold and deep snow the playgrounds and parks are always packed with children playing and parents talking.

The funny thing, we both also expected the grocery stores to be fairly sparse compared to the US but we have found quite the opposite. Even the smallest corner store is loaded with fresh bread, fruits, vegetables…everything you need for a healthy lifestyle.

All of the US Astronauts live in townhouses right on the edge of the training facility. It is an easy walk to class. (may I add for Reid - not for me!). The visitors here we now have many great conveniences like VOIP phones and Skype to keep in touch with our families.

Just down the road we have Reid's favorite destination, a Russian sauna. For a small fee, you and your friends can rent a private sauna for two hours and enjoy superb relaxation. They keep the sauna around 210-220 degrees F (no kidding) so you alternate between 10 minutes in the sauna, a quick run outside to roll in the snow, followed by 15 minutes relaxing on a bench. Sounds crazy, but Reid says it is the most relaxing experience he has ever had. And the Russians take it extremely seriously.

Does anyone know at what temperature rubber melts?


Well, at dinner tonight I managed to gross out the entire table. Reid asked me to say a few words before we ate. Having been very hungry, a little tired and totally hyper, I offended everyone with my story about Clayton C. Anderson and that space toilet he got me stuck in. I just couldn't stop talking about it so Reid had to lecture me about manners..

Good night now!

Welcome to Star City, Russia

After a pretty uneventful flight Astronaut Reid Wiseman and I made it to Moscow. From there we drove to Star City. Let me tell you, it is cold here. I watched "Wonder Years" on the plane. I had forgotten how many wonderful Apollo references this show has. Was truly great. 

Reid and I dove right in to Soyuz Thermal Control Systems class. However, I was the one being a huge hit with the interpreter and instructor. They were very patient. It's a not that easy to learn a new system and a new language at the same time.

Here I am pictured in the classroom from this morning with the Soyuz control panel in the background.

The Soyuz TMA spacecraft is designed to serve as the primary International Space Station's crew "to-and-return" vehicle. It is also acting as a lifeboat in the unlikely event an emergency would require the crew to leave the station. Just as over the weekend the crew had to take shelter in their Soyuz capsules due to some space debris.

A new Soyuz capsule is normally delivered to the station by a Soyuz crew every 3 or so months -- the arriving crew then stays on the ISS, while three of the ISS habitants returns to Earth in the older Soyuz capsule.

The Soyuz spacecraft is launched to the space station from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan aboard a Soyuz rocket. It consists of an Orbital Module, a Descent Module and an Instrumentation/Propulsion Module.

This afternoon Reid and I learned all about the ВСК-4. This is the backup periscope we use in the Soyuz to align ourselves for orbital corrections, deorbit burn, and rendezvous with the ISS. The crew uses the target on the orbital complex outer surface for monitoring visually the angular errors between the spacecraft and the orbital complex looking through the ВСК-4 visor.

I forgot to tell you about the fantastic lunch we had. It was cooked by Astronaut Chris Cassidy. It was so delicious, I had seconds.

And I am very happy to report that I only mildly complained of jet lag. The cold, however, is a completely different subject...

After class, and a few minutes of putting my feet up, it was time for dinner. After a quick chicken noodle soup dinner (which I profoundly refused to eat!), Reid and I started to study up on the Soyuz television system for our first big test on Wednesday.

Now I thought it would be a TV system to watch cartoons and maybe some good movies like Armageddon. Turns out that the television system only allows to downlink video from the reentry capsule, provides TV images of rendezvous and docking, as well as it allow data display and downlinking television data via the transmitters.

I thought this would be more fun & games. But it is actually rather hard.

Our planet and our different cultures are truly fascinating and remarkable. What 50 years ago was almost thought to be unthinkable is now happening; we are working, training and traveling to Space together with our Russian friends and cosmonauts. Thanks to our efforts in working together, in achieving one common goal, we get to share our values, believes and culture with our friends from Russia, Japan and European countries. With that also comes learning about each other's customs, something as simple as shaking hands.

Today we learned a few Russian cultural lessons. At the first greeting of the day with someone, you must shake their hand. But, never shake hands through a doorway...this is bad luck. Always walk into the room first and then shake their hand. And if you are wearing gloves, you must take them off first. And if you pass that person later in the day it is impolite to shake their hand again.

It is also bad luck to whistle inside, which I had a hard time getting used to. Especially since I have had the Wonder Years soundtrack stuck in my head.

Oh, I was also caught off guard that most stores outside of Moscow only take cash. ATMs are hard to find. Poor Reid Wiseman had to lend me some rubles to get myself some eggs yesterday. 32 rubles to the dollar. I sure owe him!

Below is one of my favorite pictures of Space East and Space West meeting. By the way, April 12 is Yuri's Night; a worldwide celebration of the first human to visit Space. More info here: http://yurisnight.net/

Gemini 4 Astronauts Meet Yuri Gagarin

Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin shakes hand with NASA's Gemini 4 astronauts, Edward H. White II and James A. McDivitt at the Paris International Air Show in June 1965. This first meeting between Gagarin and the Gemini 4 astronauts occurred shortly after the completion of the Gemini 4 mission, where White performed the first American EVA. Yuri Gagarin achieved fame as the first human to orbit Earth. Also shown in the picture (seated) are Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey and (standing) French Premier Georges Pompidou.