Out Of This World: Cosmonaut Maksim Surayev And His Blog
There used to be a time in Russia when cosmonauts were more popular than movie stars. Back in the day, most people knew their names by heart. Now, hardly anyone in Russia can name a single Russian cosmonaut, aside from maybe Yuri Malenchenko who made headlines when he got married in space in 2003. Yet, decades ago, cosmonauts were more than celebrities. They were these unapproachable legends that everybody aspired to. No one ever saw them or talked to them, but people would cut out their photos from newspapers and hang them in their kitchens. But, that was when "cosmos" was every kid's dream, and cosmonauts were the selected few who got a chance to get that much closer to it.
Maksim Surayev - Photo by Russian Federal Space Agency
Nowadays, despite the fact that cosmonauts in Russia are largely unknown, they are way more accessible than they used to be. One example is Russian cosmonaut Maksim Surayev, who keeps his own "in-space" blog. Surayev has been onboard the International Space Station for over three months now and has been blogging live from space all this time. I have to say I got hyper like a kid when I started reading his stuff. Surayev talks about all the different fun gadgets that he gets to play with at the station and explains cool space phenomena with photos and videos attached. He also answers questions from his readers. For example, his last post was addressing a question about the rumour that astronauts get bright flashes in their eyes when they try to go to sleep in space. According to Surayev, that is totally true!
And, in case you were wondering, Surayev does not blog in English...yet.
Now don't you wish Yuri Gagarin kept a blog back in the day? That would make for one fun read.
January 10th, 2010 - 04:41
Haha Yuliya, you got me all excited, until I got to the 3rd last sentence! Have you ever celebrated Yuri’s Night?
January 10th, 2010 - 04:43
Of course, I did. It is big in Russia. Except, there it is called The Day Of Cosmonautics.
January 10th, 2010 - 18:06
Too bad it’s Russian only
At least the photos are nice!
January 10th, 2010 - 18:15
I know! We have to lobby him to start blogging in Russian..
January 20th, 2010 - 05:05
vot eto da, Kruto! I’ll improve my Russian at least for the sake of his blog!
January 23rd, 2010 - 05:42
Guys, his blog is translated into English already!!! visit http://rt.com/About_Us/Blogs/orbital-log.html , you´ll find the orbital log of Maxim Surayev there!!! It´s really cute!