

Inside the Cosmonaut Survival Kit (2013) - benbreen
http://theappendix.net/blog/2013/11/the-cosmonauts-survival-kit

======
CmonDev
Good article, not too much anti-russian speech.

Also see the space laser handgun: [http://englishrussia.com/2013/10/05/laser-
gun-for-a-soviet-c...](http://englishrussia.com/2013/10/05/laser-gun-for-a-
soviet-cosmonaut)

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andyjohnson0
For comparison, US medical and survival kits from Mercury to Apollo [1].

[1] [http://airandspace.si.edu/exhibitions/apollo-to-the-
moon/onl...](http://airandspace.si.edu/exhibitions/apollo-to-the-
moon/online/astronaut-life/medical-survival.cfm)

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huhtenberg
> _here are the three coolest-looking cosmonauts I found while researching
> this post_ ...

> Tereshkova

Yes, the first woman in space. Had a major panic attack during the flight,
screamed her lungs out, vomited all over the capsule and prompted Korolev to
instigate the "no women in space while I'm alive" rule, which was in fact
observed.

> Musa Manarov

Incidentally I worked with a guy who was training as Manarov's double for one
of his flights. But then something didn't work out, he left the program and
ended up writing (accounting) software for living.

~~~
charliepark
_Yes, … observed._

This is a shitty comment and makes HN and the internet at large a worse place.
I don't have time to engage in an extended debate about this, but I wanted to
note, publicly, that this is inappropriate.

(If you had contact info in your profile, I'd have sent this directly. Feel
free to contact me by email, but I can't promise I'll be able to respond.)

~~~
secondForty
Seconded.

Perhaps the parent poster didn't intend to offend, and just wanted to pass
along some personal information? It's hard to tell. To be clear, this type of
gender-based ban is rediculous.

A brief search on this shows there's a much more balanced information out
there. Here are some interesting snips from a CS Monitor article on
Tereshkova.

[http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2013/0614/First-woman-in-
sp...](http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2013/0614/First-woman-in-space-
Miserable-cosmonaut-or-triumphant-space-flyer)

She actually solved the first big problem in her flight: On the first day, the
ship's autopilot mistakenly steered her away from Earth, leaving her facing
the prospect of being lost in space.

After her trip, the Soviet space program canceled any future trips for women,
and indeed, Tereshkova remained the only woman to go to space for almost two
decades. In 1982, the Soviets launched a second woman, Svetlana Savitskaya,
and the next year, America sent up Sally Ride. Since then, 48 other American
women have gone to space, but only one other Russian: Yelena V. Kondakova, in
1994.

[http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/24/science/space/sally-
ride-t...](http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/24/science/space/sally-ride-
trailblazing-astronaut-dies-at-61.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0)

~~~
huhtenberg
> _She actually solved the first big problem in her flight: On the first day,
> the ship 's autopilot mistakenly steered her away from Earth, leaving her
> facing the prospect of being lost in space._

The Cristian Science Monitor is an excellent source of information on the
Soviet space program, but the autopilot malfunction was exactly what triggered
Tereshkova's meltdown. It took considerable effort for the Control Center to
make her calm down and follow the instructions to reset the autopilot. She was
by and large unfit for the mission and she ended up in space only because
Soviet Union needed to launch a _woman_ into orbit.

~~~
aasarava
Do you have any sources for this other than, literally, "dad's dad's friend
who heard a rumor?"

~~~
huhtenberg
From what I understand my grandafather's friend was a part of the launch crew,
so it's not exactly "dad's dad's friend + rumor", but here you go anyways,
courtesy of Wikipedia -

[http://www.webcitation.org/6Ho9TOB7t](http://www.webcitation.org/6Ho9TOB7t)

You want this part -

    
    
      В космос Терешкова слетала. Это потрясающая, мужественная 
      женщина, но ведь она не выполнила ни единого своего задания!
      Ее тошнило в космосе, она теряла сознание, мне Королев
      рассказывал. Тогда же при мне он сказал: «Пока я жив, ни
      одна женщина в космос больше не полетит». И двадцать лет
      наши женщины не были в космосе.
    

I trust you can handle the translation.

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KC8ZKF
Shoot, a fella could have a pretty good time in Vegas with all this stuff.

~~~
PhantomGremlin
I think the full quote is in order. [1] It's hilarious:

    
    
       Major T. J. "King" Kong: Survival kit contents
       check. In them you'll find: one forty-five caliber
       automatic; two boxes of ammunition; four days'
       concentrated emergency rations; one drug issue
       containing antibiotics, morphine, vitamin pills,
       pep pills, sleeping pills, tranquilizer pills;
       one miniature combination Russian phrase book
       and Bible; one hundred dollars in rubles;
       one hundred dollars in gold; nine packs of
       chewing gum; one issue of prophylactics;
       three lipsticks; three pair of nylon stockings.
       Shoot, a fella' could have a pretty good
       weekend in Vegas with all that stuff. 
    

BTW since the movie was released shortly after the JFK assassination, "Dallas"
was dubbed to "Vegas" in post-production.[2]

[1]
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057012/trivia?tab=qt&ref_=tt_tr...](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057012/trivia?tab=qt&ref_=tt_trv_qu)
[2]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Strangelove#Kennedy_assassi...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Strangelove#Kennedy_assassination)

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Luc
Not long ago I saw, on a live feed, one of the Russian cosmonauts use a large
dagger, during an EVA to install the new cameras facing earth.

I guess it's not all that different from using a diving knife, but it was
weird to see that double-edged weapon used in space.

~~~
qwerta
Would you provide more details to trace-back this footage?

~~~
Luc
It was on 2013-12-27, or at least that was the date in Western Europe. The
knife had what looked like a leather sheath. I remember seeing it through the
wall of his perspex toolbox after he tidied it up.

Good luck :)

~~~
qwerta
Found it. Third part 2:21:40.

[http://www.space-
multimedia.nl.eu.org/index.php?option=com_c...](http://www.space-
multimedia.nl.eu.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=8647:expedition-38-russian-
spacewalk-37-december-27-&catid=1:latest)

~~~
Luc
Bravo. I'm surprised you found that in all those hours of video!

I wonder if it's custom made or a regular diving knife. Those Orlan space suit
gloves are quite bulky.

~~~
qwerta
Download and fast forward, 10 minutes.

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hcarvalhoalves
I'm skeptical Makarov's main purpose was scaring off bears. More likely a
quick way for the cosmonaut to terminate it's own life?

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ubercore
_> NASA spent nearly 20 years developing a form of space ice cream that
astronauts found palatable._

When will the internet get over the space pen meme?

