Cosmonaut Ivan Wagner is recovering from the flight and continues to communicate with subscribers in social networks.He shares his impressions of the most interesting things he saw from orbit.
Last spring, while still being on the ISS, he took a picture of Turkmenabat city for the author of ORIENT.And already during the post-flight rehabilitation, he admitted to be very impressed by the various deserts and would like to see them up close.
To my question about how long the recovery of the returned cosmonaut lasts, he answered in the same way as Oleg Kononenko had already told me in an interview. The native of Turkmenistan and currently the head of the cosmonaut team said that the rehabilitation lasts almost as long as the flight itself.
“Indeed. There is something like this. There is an acute period of rehabilitation. And then another six months will pass. Just like space flight. Some moments are restored during the year. Therefore, certainly, full rehabilitation does not take place earlier than in six months,” said Ivan Wagner.
My next question, which the cosmonaut chose for stream on social networks, was about a meeting on Earth.
“Oleg Kononenko traditionally asks to bring him an apple when landing.The native one.What about us?We didn’t really think about what they might bring us, because in the context of the coronavirus pandemic, it wouldn’t be very right if they brought us some fruit or an apple.
So we immediately said that we don’t need anything,” replied Ivan.
“In this regard, it is even easier to work. Fewer thoughts. I don’t really know what I want more when I get back. I’ll think about it next time. I hope that there will be no pandemic, and we will order something,” said the cosmonaut.
Answering the questions of other subscribers, he admitted that on the ISS he mostly missed his family, friends, relatives.
“And second, of course, I missed nature very much.I love nature and I missed these sounds, smells.The wind.The whole spectrum of perceptions when you are in the forest or on the river.
I terrifically lacked this.On earth, what we miss most is the view through the porthole.Because from the station there are very beautiful Earth views.This is probably the most interesting part.”
As a continuation, the answer to the question, is there a place on Earth that you fell in love with and would like to visit?”.
“It is difficult to name one, because there are many beautiful places on Earth.The deserts were a surprise to me.I thought deserts were deserts.
When I saw the deserts from above, I realized that there is a lot of colors.Bright colors of different tones brown, yellow, red one.And, of course, it is very interesting,” said Ivan Wagner.
He really liked Kamchatka, it is especially interesting to watch the volcanoes.
“And I would very much like to go there. Some places are interesting to observe from the Earth, some from space. It’s, for example, concerning deserts. But the jungle looks monotonous, they are dark green and that’s all,” stated the cosmonaut.
So, astronauts dream about “green, green grass”?
“The dreams on the station are the same as here on Earth. Maybe they’re a little bit brighter. More intense. I didn’t notice any difference except for the shades.”
Ivan was also asked about how do cosmonauts feel in orbit as Earthlings, Russians, Americans, and so on?
“We feel like Earthlings because there are no boundaries.There are absolutely no borders, you can’t see them from space.There are no names of cities, there are no photos, there is nothing there.
Just Land, big beautiful Earth.And we fly over all countries.In an hour and a half a revolution around the planet.And you can see a lot.
And, of course, you feel like an Earthman.But in any case we do not forget about which country we are a representative of.No one ever forgets their Homeland.
After the broadcast, I received a letter from Ivan Wagner from Korolev, and the cosmonaut presented his photo and autograph to me and the young journalists from the 23rd gymnasium of Ivanovo.
In the picture, he crosses out his photo in the list of non-flying astronauts.Ivan Wagner himself marked the message about the received letter with a sticker of the Spotty space boat.