Space superstitions: Rituals of astronauts. Why “White Sun of the Desert” Film Russian cosmonauts before launch

"collected 26 amazing facts about astronautics that you most likely did not know.

1. The fathers of modern cosmonautics - the “enemy of the people” and the SS man.

Wernher von Braun is a German and, since the late 1940s, American designer of rocket and space technology. In the United States, he is considered the “father” of the American space program. He surrendered to American forces in Germany in 1945, after which he began working for the United States. In Nazi Germany he was a member of the National Socialist Party and a Sturmbannführer of the SS.

Sergei Korolev is a Soviet scientist, designer, main organizer of the production of rocket and space technology and rocket weapons of the USSR and the founder of practical cosmonautics.

In 1938 he was arrested on charges of sabotage. According to some reports, he was tortured - both jaws were broken. On September 27, 1938, Korolev was sentenced by the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR to 10 years in labor camps and 5 years of loss of rights. In 1940, the term was reduced to 8 years in the ITL (Sevzheldorlag), and in 1944 Korolev was released. The father of Russian cosmonautics was completely rehabilitated only in 1957.

2. The Chinese cosmonautics were also created by a “repressed man.”

The father of Chinese astronautics, Qian Xuesen, received higher education in the United States and returned to his homeland only because of the “witch hunt” that unfolded in American society and subsequent disgrace.

3. The first monument to manned astronautics.

At the landing site of Yuri Gagarin near the village of Smelovka in the Saratov region on April 12, 1961, the arriving military installed a sign. More precisely, they dug in a pillar with a sign that said: “Do not touch! 04/12/61 10:55 Moscow time time."

Astronauts have many rituals necessary for a successful launch into space and return to Earth. In particular, they must pee on the wheel of the bus taking them to the launch site.

It is believed that the founder of the tradition was Yuri Gagarin, who asked to stop the car in the Kazakh steppe on the way to Baikonur. By the way, female astronauts also honor this tradition - they take with them a jar of urine, which they throw onto the wheel.

5. Why do astronauts watch “White Sun of the Desert” before a flight.

Soviet and Russian cosmonauts have another interesting tradition - before departure they watch the film “White Sun of the Desert”. It turns out that this tradition has a logical basis. It was this movie that was shown to the astronauts as a standard of camera work - using its example, they were explained how to work with the camera correctly and build a plan.

Another version: after the death of three cosmonauts of the Soyuz-11 spacecraft, the crew of Soyuz-12 was reduced to two people. Before the launch, they watched the film “White Sun of the Desert,” and after a successful mission they said that Comrade Sukhov became an invisible third member of the crew and helped them in difficult times. Since then, watching this tape has become a tradition for all Soviet and then Russian cosmonauts. By the way, astronauts from other countries are also forced to watch this film before launching from Baikonur.

6. Gagarin’s shoelace could not be untied.

Newsreels captured Yuri Gagarin's meeting after the first space flight in Moscow, and most of all, many people remember his untied shoelace.

In fact, it was not a lace, but a sock suspender. Previously, socks were made without elastic bands and suspenders were worn on the calves to prevent the socks from slipping down. This rubber band came loose on one of Gagarin’s legs, and the iron buckle hit him very painfully on the leg. Nikita Khrushchev's son Sergei spoke about this in an interview with the BBC.

7. On the 12th century cathedral there is a figure of an astronaut.

In the carvings of the Cathedral of the Spanish city of Salamanca, built in the 12th century, you can find the figure of an astronaut in a spacesuit. There is no mysticism here: the figure was added in 1992 during restoration by one of the masters as a signature. He chose the astronaut as a symbol of the twentieth century.

8. An American woman has been waiting for a flight into space for 22 years.

Barbara Morgan was selected to participate in NASA's Teacher in Space program in 1985, but did not make her first space flight until 2007.

9. People don’t snore in space.

In 2001, an experiment was conducted that showed that snorers on Earth do not snore in space.

If you cry in space, tears will remain in your eyes and face.

Georgy Ivanov (Kakalov)

The names of cosmonauts, which seemed dissonant to the Soviet authorities, were changed. The first Bulgarian cosmonaut Georgiy Kakalov had to become Ivanov, and the Pole Hermashevsky - Germashevsky. The understudy of the Mongolian cosmonaut Zhugderdemidiin Gurragcha initially bore the surname Gankhuyag, but at the insistence of the Soviet side he changed it to Ganzorig.

12. There is a monument on the Moon.

The only monument on the Moon is the Fallen Astronaut. This is an aluminum sculpture depicting an astronaut in a spacesuit lying prone. The figurine is located in the Hadley-Apennines region on the Moon, at the landing site of the crew of the Apollo 15 spacecraft on the southeastern edge of the Mare Mons. Installed on August 1, 1971 by Apollo 15 commander David Scott.

Next to it, a plaque is stuck into the ground, perpetuating the names of eight US astronauts and six USSR cosmonauts who had died or died by that time. The author of the sculpture is the Belgian artist and engraver Paul van Heijdonk. Since then and to this day, “Fallen Astronaut” remains the only art installation on the Moon.

13. Some people even took their wives into space.

American astronauts Jen Davis and Mark Lee are so far the only married couple to fly into space together. They were part of the crew of the space shuttle Endeavor, which flew in September 1992.

14. People in space grow 5 cm.

NASA astronaut Scott Kelly (pictured), who returned to Earth from the ISS in early March 2016, was found to have grown by more than five centimeters in the 340 days he spent in space.

But not only Kelly, but in general all people in zero gravity grow by about three to five centimeters. On Earth, gravity puts pressure on the spine, but in space this does not happen, and it straightens out to its full length. A person aboard the ISS typically grows by three percent.

15. The wife does not let her husband into space.

Charles Simonyi became the first two-time space tourist, flying to the ISS in 2007 and 2009. He recently got married, and his marriage contract, among other things, contains a ban on flying into space a third time.

16. Astronauts learn to go to the space toilet on Earth. Because it's difficult.

To use the space toilet, you need to sit on it exactly in the center. The correct technique is practiced on a special mock-up with a camera.

17. Instead of the dog Laika, they proposed sending little blacks into space?

The book “The Third Side of the Dollar” by A. Laurinciukas, a correspondent for the newspaper “Rural Life” in the USA, published in 1968, tells the following story.

“The dog Laika was sent into space, knowing in advance that she would die. After this, the UN received a letter from a group of women from Mississippi. They demanded to condemn the inhumane treatment of dogs in the USSR and put forward a proposal: if for the development of science it is necessary to send living beings into space, in our city there are as many black children as possible for this purpose.”

The story is most likely a propaganda fabrication, but it is still widely quoted as common knowledge, usually without reference to the journalist's book, Country Life.

18. You can’t take a bath in space.

It is impossible to take a bath in space; wet sponges and napkins are used for hygiene. It is also problematic to brush your teeth - you just have to swallow the foam from the toothpaste.

19. A Russian got married while in space.

Cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko, shortly before his flight to the ISS in 2003, proposed to an American of Russian origin, Ekaterina Dmitrieva, whose mother worked at NASA.

While at the station, he received notification from Mission Control that his mission was being extended for several months. The newlyweds decided not to wait for the groom to return and had a wedding, looking at each other through monitors. Roscosmos did not approve of such an act, since Malenchenko, who had access to state secrets, had to obtain permission to marry a citizen of another state in the prescribed manner on Earth, but subsequently he participated in space expeditions more than once.

20. The countdown was invented by filmmakers.

The countdown that invariably accompanies the launch of space rockets was invented not by scientists or astronauts, but by filmmakers. The countdown was first used in the 1929 German film Woman in the Moon to build tension. Subsequently, when launching real rockets, the designers simply adopted this technique.

21. There is a bell on the ISS.

There is a bell on the International Space Station. They hit him every time there is a change of commander.

22. The first Belgian astronaut received a noble title.

Dirk Freemouth, 51, made his only flight into space from March 24 to April 2, 1992, aboard the space shuttle Atlantis (STS-45) as one of two payload specialists. After completing his space flight, Freemouth was granted the title of Viscount.

Portraits of Soviet cosmonautics pioneers were placed on the walls of the first Soviet space station, Mir, and later on the ISS.

After some time, the portraits of Gagarin and Korolev, according to this photo, were either moved to another place or removed altogether. Apparently there was not enough space for icons.

24. The most expensive hyphen in history cost $135 million.

In 1962, the Americans launched the first spacecraft to study Venus, Mariner 1, which crashed a few minutes after launch. First, the antenna on the device, which received a signal from the guidance system from the Earth, failed, after which the on-board computer took over control.

He, too, was unable to correct the deviation from the course, since the program loaded into it contained a single error - when transferring the instructions into the code for punched cards, a dash above a letter was missed in one of the equations, the absence of which radically changed the mathematical meaning of the equation. Journalists soon dubbed this dash “the most expensive hyphen in history.” In today's terms, the cost of the lost device is $135 million.

25. Hero of the Soviet Union, the only Syrian cosmonaut - an opponent of Assad.

The first and only Syrian cosmonaut, Mohammed Ahmed Faris, completed an eight-day flight on the Soyuz spacecraft in 1987.

On August 4, 2012, the Hero of the Soviet Union fled to Turkey and joined the opposition, supporting the Free Syrian Army waging war against President Bashar al-Assad. In February 2016, he accused Russia of killing 2 thousand Syrian civilians.

One of his sons is named Mir after the Soviet orbital station.

26. The size names for space urinals had to be changed.

American astronauts on the Apollo spacecraft relieved themselves in containers, putting them on like condoms. These products came in different sizes, originally called "small", "medium" and "large". However, after astronauts chose only the large size regardless of their anatomy, the labeling was changed to "large", "giant" and "incredible".

The tradition of watching a film about Comrade Sukhov has been around for more than 40 years, and it developed during the preparation for the flight of the first Soviet crews. The picture was used as a visual aid to teach astronauts the basics of filming, which they carried out in orbit. “White Sun of the Desert” is a recognized standard of camera work; with the help of this tape, astronauts learned to work with the camera, stage scenes and build a shooting plan. Subsequently, watching a film a day before the launch became a significant part of the pre-flight ritual. To do this, astronauts gather with their families and friends, and if the crew includes foreigners, then subtitles are turned on for them on the screen. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, they tried to change the tradition and instead of “White Sun of the Desert” they played “Shirley Myrli”, but the innovation did not catch on.

There is not a word about space in the film, however, according to actor Anatoly Kuznetsov, who played the role of Comrade Sukhov, the cosmonauts like to watch how the characters in the film act in extreme situations, maintaining calm and composure. At the same time, the humor of the film helps to relax and relieve pre-launch tension.

Strange as it may seem, astronautics - a field where the most complex and latest technologies reign - is also a field associated with a lot of strict traditions and even superstitions. Everyone going into space is required to perform a lot of complex rituals, otherwise the flight will turn into a disaster. Charms, songs and worship of the spirit of Gagarin - all this is included in the indispensable set of actions that the future cosmonaut must perform.

Editorial PM

Evil fate: the explosion of the R-16 rocket on October 24, 1960 led to the death of 72 people (according to official data)

The most important thing: spray the right rear tire of the bus

The best patron of crews is the spirit of the first cosmonaut

Dobrovolsky, Volkov, Patsaev: evil fate and the death of the crew of the Soyuz-11 spacecraft gave rise to a mass of superstitions

At the Plesetsk cosmodrome there is a superstition: before launch, write the female name Tanya on the rocket

However, if you think about it, all this is not so unexpected: the laws of psychology are almost as immutable as physical principles. Thus, it is known that superstitions are especially strong in those areas of activity where a person experiences particularly high levels of stress - for example, speaking in public or working at risk to life. There is plenty of the latter even in modern astronautics: out of 483 people, according to official data, who have been in space, 18 died. The mortality rate is thus 3.74% - making astronautics one of the most dangerous professions in the world. For example, the mortality rate among American military personnel during the Iraq War (2003-2006) was 0.39%, and in Vietnam (1966-1972) - 2.18%.

Given this danger, it is not surprising that astronauts feel calmer and psychologically more comfortable, actively “protecting themselves” from mortal danger with the help of all kinds of rituals, talismans and amulets. This is a natural need of our psyche - in case of danger, to turn to a force “capable” of deflecting the blows of fate.

Another reason for the active spread of superstitions and rituals is what is called “corporate spirit.” Cosmonauts, of course, belong to an elite closed professional group and, therefore, psychologically need signs and symbols that would separate them from other “mortals” and distinguish them among them. This function is partially assumed by the joint performance of seemingly meaningless rituals. Their participants strengthen the internal cohesion of the team, emphasizing their uniqueness.

The most interesting (and most numerous) superstitions exist in Russian astronautics. Some of them date back to our days, some originate from the Soviet era and the first manned space flights, and some are even based on very ancient Orthodox views.

On board the orbital station, the team is also greeted traditionally - with bread and salt. Well, upon returning to Earth, the crew again performs a lot of rituals: they sign on the soot-covered shell of the descent capsule and inside the cabin of the helicopter that picked them up. A specially prepared bottle of vodka, signed by all crew members before the start, is also drunk. On the same alley in Baikonur they are planting their own trees, which will weave their voices into helping the next crews. And everything ends again in Star City, paying tribute to Yuri Gagarin, who provided such significant support to the travelers.

It would seem that by the nature of their service, cosmonauts and astronauts should be materialists. However, many of them are very superstitious and perform mysterious rituals before flying...

BLACK DAY OF THE CALENDAR

Judging by the number of rituals and superstitions, we can come to the conclusion that Russian cosmonauts are much more superstitious than their American colleagues.

The Americans came up with an interesting explanation for this phenomenon: the safety of space flights in Russia and the United States is not comparable.

In the USSR, according to official data, four cosmonauts died over half a century, with the last tragedy occurring more than four decades ago. Losses among astronauts are at least four times higher - 17. Such flight safety is well worth freaking out, taking all sorts of strange measures, which our cosmonauts regularly do.

So, for example, October 24 is a black page in the calendar of Soviet-Russian cosmonautics. This is the only day of the year when it is strictly forbidden to carry out any launches. Fate chose October 24 for tragedies not once, but twice. It was on this day in 1960 and 1963 that Soviet missiles exploded. The explosions killed 92 and 7 people, respectively.

Baikonur also has its own traditions. The most famous is to place coins on the rails along which the rocket is transported to the site. Cosmonauts do not take part in this ritual, because it is believed to bring bad luck to them.

Instead of crushing coins, they visit the hairdresser. In addition to the haircut, a blessing from the priest is also required. The priest blesses not only the astronauts, but also the rocket at the launch site.

REAR RIGHT WHEEL

Both cosmonauts and astronauts act on the principle: why change something if everything went well. Therefore, many of the most ordinary and routine events that occur on the day of a successful launch become traditions and rituals. It is not surprising that Yuri Gagarin became the “author” of many traditions in Soviet-Russian cosmonautics.

The strangest tradition attributed to the first cosmonaut is... the delivery of minor necessities to the wheels of the bus on which the cosmonauts travel to the cosmodrome in Baikonur. The dubious honor was given, however, not to everyone, but only to the rear right wheel, allegedly chosen by Yuri Alekseevich on April 12, 1961.

By the way, there is no doubt about the expediency or logic of the actions of the first cosmonaut, because half a century ago spacesuits were not yet as convenient and comfortable as they are now. So the desire to satisfy an urgent need in advance, if Yuri Gagarin really did this before flying on the Vostok-1 spacecraft, can be considered a completely reasonable precaution.

There is no serious evidence of this fact, but this has not prevented astronauts from peeing on the rear right wheel for more than half a century, although nowadays they can easily do the same in space thanks to comfortable suits in which every detail is thought out.

Foreign cosmonauts launching from Baikonur on Russian rockets, and, naturally, ladies are exempt from this ritual. However, they say that female astronauts often take a bottle of urine with them in order to also observe the tradition.

EARTH IN THE PORTHOLE

The remaining traditions of Soviet-Russian cosmonautics are not so strange and often have a more or less reasonable explanation. For example, before the flight, cosmonauts must visit Red Square and pay tribute to the memory of Yuri Gagarin, Sergei Korolev, Vladimir Komarov - the first person to die in space, and the three victims of the tragic flight of the Soyuz-11 spacecraft in 1971: Georgy Dobrovolsky, Vladislav Volkov and Viktor Patsayev, whose ashes rest in the Kremlin wall. This tradition is also obligatory for foreigners.

Cosmonauts and to the Alley of Heroes at Baikonur to plant a tree. Yuri Gagarin was the first to do this before the flight. As you might guess, the Gagarin tree is the oldest and largest here.

Before the flights, the astronauts come to the office of the first cosmonaut, where everything remains exactly the same as it was during his life. They examine Gagarin's personal belongings and make entries in the guest book. The most superstitious, according to rumors, ask the spirit of the owner of the office for permission to fly into space.

Today's cosmonauts and astronauts also owe Yuri Gagarin a musical tradition - listening to lyrical songs just before launch. Music lifts your spirits. True, each crew chooses their own repertoire.

The evening before the flight, the astronauts watch only one film - the famous “Western” “White Sun of the Desert.” They are given champagne for breakfast on the day of the flight. Before leaving for the cosmodrome, the astronauts sign the doors of their hotel rooms, and they leave to the sounds of the hit song “Earth in the Porthole.”

On May 28, 2014, television viewers watching the launch of the Soyuz TMA-13M spacecraft on the ISS saw a stuffed giraffe hovering near the control panel. It was a toy for the daughter of astronaut Reed Wiseman.

But the tradition of taking a talisman on a flight and tying it on a string to the control panel is Soviet-Russian. The tradition also has a very practical meaning: when the toy begins to float in the air, engineers at the Control Center see that a state of weightlessness has arrived, which means the launch was successful.

SUPERSTITIVE ASTRONAUTS

On April 17, 1970, the Apollo 13 crew returned safely to Earth despite an oxygen tank explosion. The emergency shocked NASA management. As a result, National Aeronautics Administration Administrator James Beggs ordered the number 13 to be removed from all NASA programs. This explains the strange numbering of the shuttles in 1981-2011.

The first flight of the STS shuttle took place on April 12, 1981. At first the numbering was fine, but as the 13th flight approached, tensions mounted within NASA. Beggs came up with a new numbering system. As a result, after STS-9, ... STS-41B went into space. The first digit in the new numbering indicated the year (84th in this case), the second - the number of the launch site at the cosmodrome, and the letter - the launch sequence according to the schedule.

American astronauts have breakfast with filet mignon and eggs before their flight. Alan Shepard is considered the founder of this tradition. On May 5, 1961, three weeks after Gagarin's flight, he went into space on the Freedom 7 capsule. This morning Alan ate filet mignon with eggs for breakfast. The flight was successful. Since then, astronauts have had breakfast in exactly the same way, hoping for good luck, although not all astronauts have a good appetite on launch day.

There are several other traditions associated with food. Whenever employees at NASA's Pasadena Research Center, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), launch a probe or uncrewed satellite, they eat... peanuts. This tradition was born on July 28, 1964, after the successful launch of the Ranger 7 interplanetary station, which was supposed to fly around the Moon and photograph its invisible side.

As you might guess, before Ranger 7 there were six similar stations with numbers from 1 to 6. The launches of all of them were unsuccessful for various reasons. On the day the seventh station was launched, some engineer brought peanuts to the Mission Control Center and treated them to his colleagues.

Since the flight was a success, the Control Center has since always eaten peanuts during launches. When people go into space, the menu at the Center is more varied. Engineers and scientists eat beans with cornbread.

This tradition is almost two decades younger than the “peanut” one. She was born on April 12, 1981, when the first shuttle took off from Cape Canaveral. By the way, after this simple meal, all newcomers have their ties cut. This ritual came to astronautics from aviation.

Astronauts always play poker on the way to the launch pad. Moreover, the game lasts until the flight commander loses. Astronaut Winston Scott, who once confirmed to the Chicago Tribune that he and his comrades play poker before each flight,

Sergey LAVINOV, magazine "Mysteries of the 20th Century" No. 9 2017

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