COSMONAUT SERGEI KRIKALEV SPOKE AT USUE ABOUT THE SPEED OF LIGHT AND THE SENSE OF WEIGHTNESS

Students and teachers of Ural State University of Economics met with the executive director for manned space programs of the Roscosmos State Corporation, an academician of the Russian Academy of Cosmonautics named after K.E. Tsiolkovsky, Hero of the Soviet Union and Hero of the Russian Federation, an aviation athlete and cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev.  

 The meeting was attended by USUE Rector Yakov Silin, USUE Vice-Rector for Social Work Roman Krasnov, the chairman of the DOSAAF Sverdlovsk Regional Office Arkady Vorobkalo, and students of USURT, Ural State University of Physical Culture, EMERCOM Institute, Institute of Interior Ministry, Ural State Agrarian University, Ural State University of Architecture and Art, Ural Technical Institute of Communications and Informatics.   

Speaking to the students, Sergei Krikalev said that he had decided on his future profession while studying at school. After graduating from the mechanical faculty of the Leningrad Mechanical Institute, the future cosmonaut, working for NPO Energia, tested the equipment used in space flights, developed methods of working in space and participated in the operation of the ground control service.

In 1985, he was selected to prepare for space flights. After completing the basic training course, he was temporarily assigned to a group under the Buran reusable spacecraft program. In early 1988, he began training for his first long-term missions to the Mir station, which lasted from 26 November 1988 to 27 April 1989 under the program of the 4th long-duration expedition and Soviet-French Aragats program. For that flight, Krikalev was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. The longest time was his second flight into space, the duration of which was 311 days. For this flight, Krikalev was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation.

 After a short autobiographical story, Sergei Konstantinovich answered many questions from the audience. The students learned from the cosmonaut that it took only 10 minutes from the moment of launch of a rocket to reach the Earth's orbit and that, in just 30 seconds, this spacecraft accelerated to supersonic speed. The conversation was not without some romantic questions: about tender recollections and heart-pounding episodes in his space flights.

 The long conversation with the audience ended with a photo session and autograph signing.

Students and teachers of Ural State University of Economics met with the executive director for manned space programs of the Roscosmos State Corporation, an academician of the Russian Academy of Cosmonautics named after K.E. Tsiolkovsky, Hero of the Soviet Union and Hero of the Russian Federation, an aviation athlete and cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev.

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