All 91 cosmonauts from Russia and the former Soviet Union-and astronauts from 17 other countries-learned the ropes there, employing the same simulators we would use in our course. For the first time the Russians were granting full access to the top-secret training facilities at Star City, where the Soviet space race was run. But this one, devised by Seattle-based Zegrahm Expeditions, was a whole new deal. Other companies have been selling scaled-down “space trips,” including a weightless flight and perhaps a turn in a spacesuit. So I immediately signed up, along with my photographer friend Tom, for what the brochure called a very intensive week of genuine space training. Plus I’ve had an obsession with space ever since I moved into my Manhattan apartment. I’ve been trying to achieve a certain amount of weight loss for some time, so total weight loss sounded great to me. It was a tantalizing package: ride the world’s largest centrifuge, pilot a Mir simulator, work with actual cosmonauts, scuba dive in a 1.3-million-gallon Neutral Buoyancy Tank, and, best of all, experience five minutes of total weightlessness aboard a parabolic flight. Word had come over the wire that a tour company was offering a weeklong civilian program at Russia’s Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center. Me, I’m happy just standing on the ceiling.Īre you hearing this? I am standing on the motherloving ceiling. Scott is literally bouncing off the walls. Jack soars by doing somersaults while Tom floats around gobbling airborne Pringles like a fish.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |