MADRID, April 22 – RIA Novosti, Elena Shesternina. Russian cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev gave a lecture at the Madrid Planetarium, where he spoke about Russian cosmonautics, international cooperation in the space sector and shared his impressions of the flight.
The hall at the Madrid planetarium was filled to capacity; to attend the lecture, you had to register in advance. Last year, another Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin gave a lecture here and, according to visitors to these events, which are held with the assistance of Rossotrudnichestvo, such lectures are very interesting to the Spanish public.
50 years of spacewalk
Officially, the event was timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the first man to enter the open space- in March 1965, Alexey Leonov spent the first 12 minutes 9 seconds in outer space in the history of mankind.
© Elena Shesternina
© Elena Shesternina
“A spacewalk is the pinnacle for an astronaut. There is an abyss in front of you,” Artemyev shared his impressions of the spacewalk. He spoke in detail about how astronauts are prepared on Earth for going into outer space: subjects are thrown out of a helicopter, they must read a certain task, open a parachute, control the landing, while simultaneously completing the task and reporting.
“When I opened the ISS hatch for the first time and went into outer space, there was a slight stupor, but it lasted for seconds, then it was normal work. This was the first exit for me, very responsible, and I tried to do the job as best as possible and just didn’t I had time to look around. But when there was a second exit, it was already time, and, of course, I admired the Earth. It was something extraordinary. It’s one thing to look at the earth from the station’s window, another thing from a spacesuit. It’s very cool. I recommend it to everyone experience this someday,” Artemyev said.
What can be seen from space
One of the meeting participants asked what exactly is visible from space, and whether it is true that the Chinese Wall can be seen from there. "All kinds human activity very clearly visible from space, especially if it is related to the environment, with oil spills, with oil rigs, with activities near military bases when fuel is spilled, especially near naval ports when sea water Oil tankers are washed, these spills are very clearly visible and it’s a shame to look at it. The Chinese Wall is very difficult to see. If you just look, you will never see it, but if you know for sure that there should be a Chinese Wall in this place, then you can see it by the shadow that it casts. This strip of shadow is what you see. Otherwise, it’s almost impossible to see it,” said Artemyev. “But the pyramids are clearly visible from space,” he shared.
Artemyev showed pictures from space - including Spain. According to him, Spain and Italy are very easy to photograph, they are always clearly visible, and due to good weather they are often visible.
Lie test
The Spaniards were interested in a variety of questions: the Mars program, whether the cosmonaut began to believe in God after the flight, how time is perceived in space, why Russian capsules with cosmonauts land and not splash down, what is the influence of radiation, what cosmonauts carry in their suitcases when they climb start, what cosmonauts and astronauts do in free time, do astronauts see “strange creatures”, and finally, is it possible in space to repeat the situation that occurred in the cockpit of a crashed passenger plane flying from Barcelona to Dusseldorf, when, according to investigators, the co-pilot blocked the door to his partner and sent the plane into the ground .
According to Artemyev, a repetition of the situation on board the A320 aircraft in space is almost impossible. “Astronauts go through a very large psychological selection. If a person wants to become an astronaut, he goes through a psychological text consisting of 600 questions, and they must be answered truthfully, there is a lie coefficient, if you exceed it, you are excluded from further testing. Testing continues in during the entire period before the flight. One of the most difficult psychological tests is the so-called “audience chamber” - small room 4 by 6 meters, completely isolated, you have no connection with the world - you sit in complete silence and solve psychological tests, mathematical problems, report on a given topic, and so on for five days. For three days you don’t sleep at all. During these three days, all the worst that is in a person manifests itself. If your psychological health is normal, you will get through this. If not, then the person leaves the race,” said the cosmonaut. Psychological tests are repeated once every three months, once a year – a lot psychological test, and so on until the very start. “The doctors had no punctures,” Artemyev said.
The 118th cosmonaut of Russia, Oleg Artemyev, flew to the ISS as part of the crew of the Soyuz TMA-12M spacecraft (commander Alexander Skvortsov, flight engineers Oleg Artemyev and Stephen Swanson). The expedition lasted from March 26 to September 11, 2014. From March 31 to July 14, 2009, he took part in a 105-day preparatory experiment under the MARS-500 experiment program, simulating a flight to Mars.
Incredible facts
IN last years The myth that the Great Wall of China can be seen from space has been finally debunked.
Although the wall is long, it is not wide enough and blends in too well with environment to be noticeable from space .
Many people are probably disappointed by this fact, but there are many beautiful things on earth that can be seen from space, especially while in low Earth orbit where satellites and the International Space Station are located.
Open pits
Quarries are essentially massive pits from which gold, copper, uranium and other minerals are extracted. To gain access to resources, you need to dig a hole in the ground, which widens and deepens until a person finds what he is looking for.
Therefore, such pits are often expanded to gigantic sizes, which become visible from space, like any lake or mountain.
For example, the Russian one, which is closed today Mir diamond mine so colossal in size that Russian officials had to close for flights this zone. Apparently, the hole, 523 meters deep and 1,200 meters wide, created such a strong downdraft that it caused helicopters to fall from the sky.
And it's not even the largest mine in the world. The mine bears this title Bingham Canyon(Bingham Canyon), also known as the Kennecott Copper Mine, located outside of Salt Lake City, Utah.
The depth of the mine is 1.2 km, width – 4.4 km. Until 2030, the mine will still be expanding. NASA astronauts took this amazing photo of the majestic Bingham Canyon while passing over it while on the ISS.
Seasons
Those who have been in orbit for quite a long time can actually monitor how the seasons change based on changing topography of the planet. However, even we earthlings can see this fascinating transformation thanks to NASA satellite images.
When the monthly images are combined into an animation, they show the ebb and flow of the tides polar ice, dry and wet seasons in the tropics, and the growth cycle of vegetation around the world.
Perhaps the most interesting thing to observe is the formation arctic ice, as well as how it retreats annually. Speaking about this process in numbers: Arctic sea ice covers an area of in the coldest months of the year 15 million square kilometers , in summer the space it occupies is halved.
For comparison: Antarctica is losing almost all of its ice (18 million square kilometers in winter to 3 million in summer).
Forest fires
For those who live in dry, hot conditions, the constant threat of fires is simply a fact of life. Smoke and ash from this disaster "adjusts" the brightness of the sky for hundreds of kilometers, and during fires such an amount of smoke is produced that even astronauts can tell that something is burning.
The picture above shows a satellite photograph taken in October 2003 during a fire in California that started just above Santa Barbara and extended all the way to the Mexican border. Due to the strong Santa Anna winds, this fire, along with several others at the time, burned more than 240,000 hectares of land across the state and claimed a large number of lives.
However, the fire may not be of such a scale visible from space. NASA specialists have a whole collection of photographs of smoke from fires, large and small.
One of the most interesting is a series of photographs showing hundreds of small fires over Africa that broke out at the same time. However, it is widely believed that this smoke had another origin: several farmers were burning their land for agricultural purposes.
Volcanic eruptions
Every year there are 50-60 volcanic eruptions on Earth. Astronauts can see any of them in the form of rising ash and smoke from a natural chimney. Sometimes even burning, glowing magma is visible far beyond the stratosphere.
Sarychev Volcano (pictured above) is located in the northwest Pacific Ocean and is one of the most active volcanoes in the world. Since 1946, the volcano has erupted 8 times. During its eruption in 2009, the shock wave was very strong, "exploding the clouds" and allowing astronauts get a surprisingly clear photo of this phenomenon.
Other maximally active volcanoes are Mount Stromboli in Italy, Mount Etna in Italy, Mount Yasur in Vanuatu. All of them constantly erupt over hundreds and even thousands of years.
How the earth is seen from space
The glow of phytoplankton
Phytoplankton are microscopic, plant-like organisms that reproduce rapidly and create huge algae blooms on the surface of the ocean. They accumulate into such large and large populations that sometimes the only way to see them in their entirety is to look from space.
Their blooms can span over hundreds of kilometers, and because they follow ocean currents, phytoplankton can take on very beautiful blue-green shapes.
Blooms begin when ocean waters mix and phytoplankton receive maximum amounts of light and nutrients. It also serves as food for a variety of sea creatures, And is the basis of the ocean food chain.
It is also a major carbon dioxide sink, absorbing about a third of all the CO2 humanity produces from burning fossil fuels. Photo of a plankton bloom taken in 2010 off the coast of Ireland by a NASA satellite.
The eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland is believed to have provided phytoplankton iron and other nutrients, which allowed it to grow to such impressive sizes.
Border between India and Pakistan
No best place than space to see all the beauty of our planet and the interconnection between each other human race. However, even rising hundreds of kilometers above the Earth, we can still see some not entirely pleasant aspects of life, which we ourselves create.
Let's take, for example, man-made border between India and Pakistan. The two countries are so close to each other that they have erected a physical militarized border that is floodlit at night to prevent ammunition trafficking and terrorist crossings.
The border is illuminated so brightly that the 2,900-kilometer demarcation line is clearly visible from the ISS. The border passes through various terrains, including cities and deserts, but, surprisingly, it burns along its entire length.
Over the past decades, the India-Pakistan border has been one of the most dangerous places in the world, plagued by lawlessness, violence and deadly standoffs.
Deforestation
Looking at the planet from above, you can easily get a real view of what is happening to it. One such example is deforestation. If a person could stay in space for 30 or 40 years, then he could see with his own eyes what satellites have been documenting for many years: consistent and regular loss of forest areas.
The image above was taken by NASA's Landsat 1 satellite and is "one of" in a long line of photos that reveal a startling change appearance tropical forests Amazon between 2000 and 2012.
In just 37 years, this area, covered with lush and dense trees, has lost 2,500 square kilometers of forest. This can be seen very clearly in photographs from space. In general, over the entire history of its existence, the Amazon forests have lost 360,000 square kilometers.
What can be seen from space
Sandstorm
There are three main components required for a sandstorm to form: wind, sand or dust, and dryness. When these three ingredients come together under ideal conditions, incredible flows begin to rise at speeds of up to 160 kilometers per hour, sweeping away everything and everyone in their path.
These storms are sometimes so large that they can be observed from the ISS. For example, the photo above shows a sandstorm that covered Egypt and stretched across almost the entire Red Sea.
Similar sandstorms occur regularly off the coast of Africa, China and other places where trade winds can carry dust for thousands of kilometers. This is not uncommon for the dust and sand of the Sahara create dirty and foggy skies over the entire Caribbean.
Sandstorms cause damage to buildings, people and animals, but they also bring benefits by delivering minerals and other nutrients to areas where vegetation accumulates, such as the Amazon forests.
Borders between rich and poor countries
Modern civilizations have such an impact on Earth that the borders between countries are clearly visible even from a height of hundreds of kilometers. NASA astronaut John Grunsfeld flew on the space shuttle five times during his career.
He said that rich countries tend to "glow" green, while the poorer ones who have access to drinking water limited, “painted” an unpleasant brown.
In addition, countries for which electricity is not a commonplace are noticeably dim at night and stand in stark contrast to neighboring countries whose bright cities light up the sky.
This difference is especially noticeable between the borders of Northern and South Korea. At night, South Korea, like any modern country, burns, while in North Korea it is so dark that the state practically disappears.
In the photo above you can see how South Korea is “burning” in the lower right corner (the brightest spot is Seoul). China is equally bright throughout its entire territory (opposite part of the photo). But where is North Korea?
No, she didn't drown in the ocean. In fact, The “black mass” between South Korea and China is the desired territory. Also note the Tangerine Demilitarized Zone. Only the capital, Pyongyang, is visible.
While North Korea It's hard to blame light pollution, but this photo clearly illustrates how most of the country most likely lives without electricity, as well as without everything connected with it: heat in winter period, refrigeration, appropriate temperatures in hospitals, etc.
Many of us have probably heard that the Great Wall of China is the only man-made structure that can be seen from space with the naked eye. Is it so?
History of the Myth of the Wall of China
The hypothesis that the wall is visible from space appeared long before the first flights into orbit, which is not surprising, because the total length of the Chinese wall is 8.851 km (according to other sources, 21.196 km). At the beginning of the 20th century, this fact was mentioned in quite serious publications of the time. The first doubts about this statement began to appear after the flights into orbit. Neither Soviet nor American cosmonauts could see the wall on the surface of the Earth. The Chinese, of course, were upset by this, but they came up with their own excuse, saying that only a true Chinese is destined to see the wall from space. But... they were wrong, the Chinese astronauts also could not see the great wall from space.
Why the Great Wall of China is not visible from space.
To begin with, let's define what we mean by space. If we take low Earth orbit (which is where most satellites and space stations fly), then the distance from the Earth’s surface will be at least 160 km. From this distance you can actually see some large buildings, but you cannot see the Wall of China. This is explained simply: the wall not only blends in color with the environment, but also follows the terrain. It is impossible to see it with the naked eye; moreover, it is very difficult to notice it even in close-up photographs. Below are examples of photographs taken by a Chinese astronaut using a 180mm lens:
Chinese wall from space. Zoom 180mm.
The astronaut himself said that he could not see the wall and was not sure whether it would be visible in the photographs.
Is the Great Wall of China visible from the moon?
Yes, there was such a myth, but it was also dispelled very quickly. Firstly, the American astronauts who landed on the Moon said that they could not see the wall. Secondly, the Moon is located at a distance of 384,400 km from the Earth. If the wall is not visible even from a distance of 160 km, why should it become visible from a distance 2400 times greater?
What objects are visible from space?
In principle, there are many such objects. Cities, rivers, and mountains are visible to the naked eye. Individual buildings can be seen with zoom. Here are some examples provided by NASA:
(Total 29 photos)
1. Go Discovery! On October 23, 2007 at 11:40 am, I went into space for the first time on the Discovery shuttle. He is wonderful... it's a pity that this is his last flight. I'm looking forward to boarding the ship when it arrives at the station in November.
2. Earthly radiance. The space station is in the blue terrestrial glow that appears when the rising sun pierces our planet's thin atmosphere, bathing the station in blue light. I will never forget this place... a view like this makes my soul sing and my heart wants to fly.
3. NASA astronaut Douglas H. Wheelock.
4. Juan de Nova Island in the Mozambique Channel between Madagascar and Africa. The amazing colors of these places can compete with the views of the Caribbean Sea.
5. Northern lights in the distance on one of the beautiful nights over Europe. The Strait of Dover is clearly visible in the photo, as is Paris, the city of lights. Little fog over western part England, in particular over London. How incredible it is to see the lights of cities and towns against the backdrop of deep space. I will miss this view of our wonderful world.
6. “Fly me to the Moon...let me dance among the Stars...” (Take me to the Moon, let's dance among the stars). I hope we never lose our sense of wonder. A passion for exploration and discovery is a great legacy to leave to your children. I hope someday we'll set our sails and set off on a journey. Someday this wonderful day will come...
7. Of all the places on our magnificent planet, few can compete in beauty and richness of colors with. This photo shows our ship “Progress-37” against the backdrop of the Bahamas. How beautiful our world is!
8. At a speed of 28,163 km/h (8 km per second)... we orbit the Earth, making one revolution every 90 minutes, and seeing sunsets and sunrises every 45 minutes. So half of our journey takes place in pitch darkness. To work, we simply need flashlights on our helmets. In this photo I am preparing the handle of one device... "M3 Ammonia Connector".
9. Every time I look out the window and see our beautiful planet, my soul sings! I see blue skies, white clouds and a bright blessed day.
10. Another spectacular sunset. In Earth's orbit, we see 16 such sunsets every day, and each of them is truly valuable. This beautiful thin blue line is what makes our planet stand out from so many others. It's cold in space, and the Earth is an island of life in the vast dark sea of space.
11. Beautiful atoll in Pacific Ocean, photographed with a 400mm lens. Approximately 1930 km south of Honolulu.
12. Beautiful reflection of sunlight in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. There are no borders visible from space... From there you can only see breathtaking views, such as the view of this island of Cyprus.
13. Over the center of the Atlantic Ocean, before another amazing sunset. Below, the spirals of Hurricane Earl are visible in the rays of the setting sun. Interesting look at vital energy our sun. Sun rays on the left side of the station and on Hurricane Earl... these two objects are collecting the last bits of energy before plunging into darkness.
14. A little further east we saw the sacred monolith of Uluru, better known as Ayers Rock. I've never had the opportunity to visit Australia, but one day I hope to stand next to this natural wonder.
15. Morning over the Andes in South America. I don’t know for sure the name of this peak, but I was simply amazed by its magic, the peaks reaching towards the sun and winds.
16. Over the Sahara Desert, approaching ancient lands and thousands of years of history. The Nile River flows through Egypt past the Pyramids of Giza in Cairo. Further, the Red Sea, the Sinai Peninsula, the Dead Sea, the Jordan River, as well as the island of Cyprus in the Mediterranean Sea and Greece on the horizon.
17. Night view of the Nile River, stretching like a snake through Egypt to the Mediterranean Sea, and Cairo, located in the river delta. What a contrast between the dark, lifeless desert of northern Africa and the Nile River, on the banks of which life is in full swing. In the distance in this photograph taken beautifully autumn evening, the Mediterranean Sea is visible.
18. Our unmanned 'Progress 39P' is approaching the ISS for refueling. It's full of food, fuel, spare parts and everything we need for our station. Inside was a real gift - fresh fruits and vegetables. What a miracle after three months of tube feeding!
20. Soyuz 23C Olympus module docked on the nadir side. When our work here is finished, we will return home to Earth. I thought you might be interested in seeing this spectacle through the Dome. We fly over the snow-capped peaks of the Caucasus. The rising sun reflects from the Caspian Sea.
21. A flash of color, movement and life on our canvas amazing world. This is part of the Great Barrier Reef off the east coast of Australia, captured through a 1200mm lens. I think even the great impressionists would have been amazed by this natural painting.
22. All the beauty of Italy on a clear summer evening. You can see many beautiful islands decorating the coast - Capri, Sicily and Malta. Naples and Mount Vesuvius stand out along the coast.
23. At the southern end South America lies the pearl of Patagonia. The stunning beauty of the rugged mountains, massive glaciers, fjords and open sea combines in amazing harmony. I dreamed about this place. I wonder what it would be like to breathe the air there. Real magic!
24. The “dome” on the nadir side of the station gives a panoramic view of our beautiful planet. Fedor took this photo from the window of the Russian docking bay. In this photo I'm sitting in the canopy getting my camera ready for our evening flight over Hurricane Earl.
27. Clear starry night over the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Ancient lands from thousand years of history stretch from Athens to Cairo. Historic lands, fabulous cities and tempting islands... Athens - Crete - Rhodes - Izmir - Ankara - Cyprus - Damascus - Beirut - Haifa - Amman - Tel Aviv - Jerusalem - Cairo - they all turned into tiny lights on this cool November night. These places seem to emanate grace and tranquility.
28. At this time of year you can fully enjoy the beauty of the polar mesospheric clouds. With our high light angle we were able to capture thin layer noctilucent clouds at sunset.
29. Shannon, me and Fedor in our Falcon suits in the MRM-1 module. We boarded the Olympus capsule to pressurize and check for leaks on our suits. All systems are running, the countdown has begun.
Guitar in the pampas
This unusual forest belt, half a kilometer long, stretches through the pampas of Argentina. Only from above you can see that the forest looks like a giant guitar. This impressive work of street art was created by Farmer Pedro Martin Ureta and his four children in memory of his early deceased wife and mother. The guitar “consists” of 7,000 living trees and has been amazing local airline pilots for several decades.
Giant chessboard
This Chess board(400x400 m) is located near the German city of Bad Frankenhausen-Kyffhäuser. Appeared in 2009. Four years ago, this board hosted a match between Elisabeth Patz, a member of the German women's chess team, and the world chess community.
In fact, this is a classic seven-turn labyrinth - a mystical sign known to mankind for several millennia. Such labyrinths are found on all five continents. Perhaps the most famous design can be seen on ancient Cretan coins in the Heraklion Museum. Thanks to the myth of the Minotaur, this drawing has almost become a brand of the island. Here the labyrinth is drawn down to the fingerprint. It is 38 meters long and is located in Hove Park, Brighton (UK).
Long Man from Wilmington, UK
Presumably, it appeared in the Iron Age, according to other sources - in the 16th or 17th century.
Sheikh Hamad name
The eccentric Arab billionaire sheikh Hamad bin Hamdan Al Nahyan erected the inscription “HAMAD” on the private island of Al Futaisi. The height of each letter is 1 km, the length of the inscription is more than 3 km. The first 2 letters represent shipping channels filled with water.
A monumental installation in the Sahara Desert (Egypt) was created by three artists, Danae and Alexandra Stratou and Stella Constantinides, studying Zen.
On March 7, 1997, creation was completed. Two spirals of sand cones swirled on an area of 100 thousand square meters. In the center is a round pool with an island in the shape of a truncated cone. The artists assumed that the structure would disappear further due to erosion, but it is still visible on satellite images taken by Google Earth.
Firefox logo
In the fields of the American state of Oregon in 2006, a circle was created in the shape of the logo of the then young Firefox browser. The logo shot became one of the most popular places Google Earth. Such original advertising really helped attract new users to the browser.
A giant rag pink rabbit lies in the Italian Alps, near the town of Arestin. The crazy idea to create such a strange installation belongs to a group of Italian artists called “Gelatin”.
They formed a 60-meter-long rabbit from materials that are expected to decompose by 2025. Pilgrimages of tourists are annually organized to visit the rabbit, who happily take pictures near the giant “corpse”.
World map of Lake Kleitrup, Denmark.
Celtic sign - giant pretzel in Munich
“Island of Time” is located next to the airport in Munich (Germany). When creating it, the artist Wilhelm Holderied was inspired by Celtic motifs, and the locals call it a huge pretzel (pretzel) for its obvious similarity. Millions of people see this sign as they fly over it towards Franz Josef Strauss Airport in Munich.
Portrait of Genghis Khan,
Portrait taken during the traditional Mongolian culture festival Naadam in Ulaanbaatar, 2006
"Golden Spiral" is an installation in Morocco created by German artist Hansjörg Voth and architect Peter Richter in 1992-1997.
Lake in the shape of a man, State of Sao Paulo, Brazil
