FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1963
1963 - 1276.PDF
104 In this photograph Lt-Col Volery Bykovsky is seen in the course of his thorough medical checkout prior to his long period in Earth orbit Missiles and Spaceflight and oceans. Water surfaces are readily distinguishable from dry land. The water in the seas and oceans is of different colours. The curvature of the horizon itself, as you emerge from the Earth's shadow, exhibits a beautiful range of colours, with reddish hues predominating. On the ground, roads and towns are visible. Towns are particularly clearly seen at night. During my flight I lived and worked to a programme compiled on Earth. I devoted a great deal of attention to various tests and experiments. I ate four times every 24 hours; the food was ordinary terrestrial food and my appetite was excellent. I slept excellently; on the first day I fell asleep sooner than scheduled—you can under stand how much excitement and how many impressions I had. Incidentally, there were amusing moments in space, too. I was transmitting a routine report which said that I had had a motion of the bowels but, owing to interference, the operator at the ground control received the word "stuk" (knocking) instead of "stul" (motion of the bowels). There was uproar in ground control. I was bombarded with questions: what has happened to the ship? What was making the knocking? What kind of knocking was it? Was it a buzzing or a banging noise? And so on. I had to explain that it was only a motion of the bowels or, to put it simply, I had made use of my sanitary appliance. In reply I heard loud laughter; my ground control colleagues were reassured and normal work was resumed. I paid special attention during the flight to physical exercises. In addition to the conventional exercises performed by the earlier cosmonauts, I did power exercises with a rubber strap. Physical training exercises helped me to maintain my capacity to work throughout the flight. During the flight we also carried out further research into operation by means of communication, both into space-to-Earth communications and into communications between the two space ships. Whereas during the Popovich and Nikolayev flights the distance between the two spaceships was insignificant, this time the distance altered throughout the flight and varied very considerably, from five to several hundred kilometres. Nevertheless, communica tions between the spaceships remained steady. And needless to say, when Chayka came too into orbit our spirits rose. We compared -notes, made suggestions to each other and even sang songs together. In future it will, quite clearly, be possible to maintain communica tions in outer space over very large distances. The direct television transmissions from outer space to the ground were a remarkable achievement by Soviet science and engineering. During the television sessions I tried to show people on the ground what a weightless condition was like, and I demonstrated by using •various objects in the spaceship cabin. But actually to get the feel of the weightless condition one has to go up there. I was particularly impressed by the free floating-about in the cabin, and I will not •conceal from you uuf I eagerly awaited the time when I could get out of my harness and float freely about in the cabin. In this condi tion I carried out various movements. I floated up to the portholes FLIGHT International, 18 July \% of the spaceship and carried out observations of the ground, in extremely peculiar—the slightest push sends you flying in \\ opposite direction and, with your eyes closed, you cannot tell win your position actually is. Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova ... I very mud wanted to prove that we Soviet women could make a worthy contri bution to the direct exploration of outer space in a Vostok spaceship June 16, 1963, was an unforgettable day. Preparations were in progress for the launching. All the work was proceeding according to schedule. Alongside me were my friends. I was constantly told how the flight of Valery Bykovsky was progressing. I was a litili excited but when, at last, I was seated in the cabin of the spaceship there was no longer any place for excitement. I regularly checked the equipment and maintained constant radio communication, From the tone of the conversations I felt that everything was going well. Finally—the launching. I try to observe and record m; sensations, my condition, my observations. After the spaceship had been put into orbit I began to carry oui my flight tasks. The flight of Vostok 6 lasted 71 hours. During this time I circled the Earth 48 times. The overall length of the cosmic route was about two million kilometres. The flight tasks included work with various sections of the cabin equipment, of the life- supporting system and radio communications. I recorded all my observations in the logbook, on a tape recorder and on cine-film, In addition to work, time for rest had been planned. I stood up'well to the state of weightlessness and quickly adjusted myself to it. True, it was rather odd to sleep with one's hands hanging in mid-air, bul then I took into account Herman Titov's experience and put my hands into my harness while I slept. As for the rest, I was able to rest well, I slept well, and did not dream. After sleep I was able to do physical exercises and to ha« breakfast. I enjoyed the physical exercises. My food consisted oi good produce. I ate with appetite, I had a varied menu. True, towards the end of the flight I began to want some black bread, potatoes and onions. The people who met me after my landing very hospitably offered me bread, potatoes, onions and even kvass. I am often asked how I was able to train myself for such an unusual and unfeminine matter as controlling a spaceship in flight Another picture of medical investigations during cosmonaut training. In this case the subject is Valentina Tereshkoti
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
