Emz-the-geographically-variable

Two days after Italy, I went to Moscow for a week long work meeting. It was cold, 6C on the last day of August! A taxi driver was waiting for me at the airport, and he took me to a hotel where all the ESA and NASA people stay when working there. Our suite was quite modern and Ikea furnished, and had two bedrooms and a living room and a large shiny bathroom. It was cheap by Moscow standards – 235 euro/night! Feeling a bit tired, I decided to iron my business clothes for the week and turned on the TV.  For unexplained reasons, we had a US Troop TV channel, whose ads were patriotic affirmations of US cultural supremacy, or alternately, pleas for troops not to commit suicide because it hurts unit morale.
 

The meetings were held in the ESA Moscow office. It is on the 5^th floor of an older posh building, formerly probably apartments judging from the Jacuzzi in the bathroom. They fed us Russian food for lunches, which I really enjoy, even the infamous dill trimmings that literally season every dish.
 

Highlights of Moscow include borsht (beet soup with sour cream and dill), almost seeing Red Square, which was closed to set up for some kind of civic celebration. A guard spent several minutes watching us take pictures from the fence and then summoned us, “Women!” and told us the times it would be open, unfortunately incompatible with our meeting. We got the idea though, and walked around all over to see the Onion Things (churches), the old mall which used to be the one place in the USSR rich people could always get all manner of products denied to the average citizen, the expensive restaurant and clothes store section that looks very European with its cobblestone streets. Moscow seems a bit grimy (the cars are always covered by a layer of dirt), but is in much better repair than St. Pete’s. It is also less interesting, as it has a feeling not unlike other modern cities, and is building tons of standard everywhere apartment buildings and office blocks. The metro is fun – fast, well layed out, awfully deep, enclosed by thick nuclear blast doors, and with each station decorated differently, some with art, others fancy with chandeliers, wood and marble.
 

On the last day we were invited to Star City, where Russian cosmonauts have been trained since the beginning, and whose buildings, features, and people have figured prominently in the research I conduct for my job. The place seemed vaguely familiar from all that I had read about it! Somehow I expected it to be more decrepit, but in fact it was not too bad though most stuff was built between the 60s and 80s and looks that way. We had tea in the ESA Star City Office, and had a tour of most of the important areas – the Soyuz complex simulator, where we saw US astronaut Shannon Walker training; the Mir mock-ups in a long training hall; the Hydrolab, where space suit Extra Vehicular Activity training takes place; the biggest centrifuge in the world which is I think 18 m from pivot point to crew compartment and can induce loads of up to 30G; and an isolation chamber. As part of training, Russian cosmonauts must spend 5 days in a tiny room doing boring tasks. The first and last night they can sleep, but the middle three days they must keep themselves awake and keep their performance up on the tasks. We talked with a very young-seeming cosmonaut just after he got out of the chamber to ask how it was.
 

In light of the the claimed Russian/US integration and cultural exchange so important to mutual understanding and good working relationships, one can’t help but notice a small cluster of large, modern American-style townhouses standing incongruously beside the older cement blocks. These are the US astronauts’ accommodation while staying in Star City, as NASA personnel were dissatisfied with the cosmonauts’ quarters and wanted their people to enjoy US standards. Way to integrate, guys!
 

After Russia, I spent a couple of days working at home and spending a few seconds with Gio, and this morning came by speedytrain to Germany to help get ready for this cave expedition dry run I will be a guinea pig for in a couple of weeks in Sardinia. I am staying with the family I was living with when I was here, lying in my old bed, and very happy to feel welcomed and at home here still.