Pedro Duque's diary from space: The farewell

Pedro Duque's diary from space: The farewell

28 October 2003
This is the last full day I will spend on the Station. There's still a lot
to do, but the emphasis is now on finishing everything up and packing away
the results of the experiments correctly.

There are a number of experiments that make the most of the flight right up
to the last minute, squeezing in the hours of zero gravity to study fluids
or materials. Others must be kept frozen or at a controlled temperature
until just before the landing, to avoid losing data during the time they
will spend in the capsule - we don't have fridges or heaters in there, so
they will be kept in a thermos instead.

The atmosphere in the Station has changed. The outgoing crew have their
minds more and more on the Earth. They have already passed the baton over to
the new crew. Some little things have already changed, even though I suppose
the newly arrived crew will still need some time to set everything up for
their own convenience. Today I noticed that items had already changed place
in the bathroom area. It also surprised me when the new crew wanted to know
where I had left everything, so that they could keep working in it or put it
away where they think it's best.


I don't have first hand knowledge of how it feels when you leave here after
many, many days in orbit. I imagine that they must be ready to go back and
eager to meet their families. They say the months they have spent in the
Station have been very nice, and they don't regret their coming, but I can
imagine that when they reach the ground happiness will be greater than
nostalgia.

I have only met one colleague who, the very same day of the landing, just
coming out of the plane bringing him from the Steppe, said: "I miss it, it
was better in the Station". That was Valeri Polyakov in 1995, winner of the
'Principe de Asturias' award, after the longest stay so far of an astronaut
in space: fourteen months. I don't know how Valeri feels about it now, I
haven't thought about asking him, but maybe he would say it was just an
impulse and that he changed his mind afterwards. But one has to recognise
that it is a privilege to work here for any amount of time; the experience
is unforgettable.

In my case, after just ten days, of course I could stay longer if the
workload was reduced to equal that of my crewmates, my days would then be
calmer and I could enjoy the advantages. I feel a bit like a tourist who has
spent several days in a touristic centre and sees his last day approaching,
the feeling that there are still so many things to do and enjoy. Over the
last few days I've been stealing five minutes here and there to learn to
move with ease, to look out of the window - the Earth by day, the Earth by
night, the stars...


I've been fortunate today: I've been able to see the fires in California, an
amazing sight. I decided to take a moment to enter a module located out of
the way and switch the lights off to see the night. I have seen something we
can often see from up here, an electric storm in which the flashes of
lightning propagate through the clouds. And in the middle of the show I saw
something small but very beautiful: a shooting star below us. A nice
farewell.


--
-------------------

Jacques :-)

Editor: www.spacepatches.info