Russian cosmonaut

Alexander Misurkin

I was born and spent the first years of my life in Smolensk region, the birthplace of the first cosmonaut in the world. Later I moved to the town of Orel where my children’s dreams about flying to other worlds, the desire to visit places where nobody had ever been before gradually grew into the goal of my life - to become a cosmonaut.

Here I took the first steps towards achieving my goal. I began to fly a glider on my own and it was long before I learned to drive a car.

After leaving school I entered Kachinsk Higher Military Aviation School for Pilots. Then I continued my studies at Armavir Military Aviation Institute. During the next 7 years the main task for me was to improve my professional skills. The only thing that was important for me at that time was the desire to become a first-class instructor-pilot. Having achieved this goal and having gained commanding experience I was ready for the next step.

Having been selected into a Cosmonaut team meant that I really rose to a new level in my life. It was the time of endless classes, exams, tests together with jumping with parachutes, diving, flying airplanes and survival training. In addition to it there were business trips to various parts of the country, I had a wide circle of contacts but the most important thing was that all these was happening in some special atmosphere, among unusual, open-hearted, sympathetic, kind and brave people. And our group was one single whole - a real team, which for me has always been one of the most important values. It was really a New World. I was happy, happy to live in it, happy to understand that all this gave me an opportunity for self-development and moving forward. It was getting harder and harder to make progress but because of it life was even more interesting. Step by step I was approaching my cherished dream and the most important trial in my life. And the realization of the fact that the plan which I had made for myself when I was a school-boy, worked well, gave me strength to continue.

On March 29, 2013, at the age of 35, I went on the 35th expedition to the International Space Station – this was the achievement of my goal which I had set for myself 23 years before. I became the 116th cosmonaut of Russia and also the youngest cosmonaut / astronaut (which I remain till now) who had an expedition to the International Space Station.

As any person I am not ideal, but the lack of doubt that my goal is real, self-criticism, maximalism, perseverance and a heart burning with enthusiasm – these are the traits that helped me to choose my path in life and not give up halfway...

The goal and challenge of the first part of my life was thus achieved but there appeared new goals over the horizon. Because to stand still and not to move forward means to give up and retreat.

I was asked many times about the secret of my success. But the first person who asked this question was I myself. I was so much surprised when after thinking this over and over again I, quite unexpectedly for myself, realized that all this time I had followed a set of rules. This is how I discovered my rules of space. But the most important thing that has always been with me all these years and without which I would have never been able to see with my own eyes our planet, the Earth from outside, is my faith. Or rather my calm confidence that the impossible can be made possible.

Once my friend commented upon my desire to become an astronaut: «Right, those who do not set high goals do not achieve great results». This phrase stayed imprinted in my memory for a long time. These words being totally confirmed by my experience, today, in communication with young people, I keep telling about the importance of goal-setting in everyone’s life. Meanwhile, unnoticed for myself, I came to the idea that the goals can be of different levels of ambition, but they certainly must be high.

The most beautiful thing I have seen in space is our planet. Our Earth is not just a planet, it is undoubtedly an extraordinary masterpiece, though perhaps it is not only one in the universe. And so the first second you look at Earth through the window, all your thoughts go away, your breathing and pulse slow down and you are so much absorbed in watching it and you are never bored but want to see it over and over again... A bit later you become aware that our life — the way we understand it, is the result of a confluence of some galactic scale circumstances. For example, we feel quite comfortable in the temperature range ±30°С, while on the surface of the Sun temperature +6000°. And I ask myself: «how exact our Earth was position with respect to such a powerful source of radiation that would provide such a narrow range of temperatures. Did this happen by chance?»

In 2016 just before my leaving for Baikonur as the backup crew commander, somebody called me from an unknown number. It was Alyona Kuzmenko, a nice girl with a noble heart and unbending will, as I later learned. Alyona and her team «Unity» help children who have a terrible disease — cancer. They cheer them up, help to see the beauty of this world and try to attract public attention to this global issue. I had been skeptical about art therapy until I accidentally heard a legend about the 19th century glass-blower from the town of Gus-Khrustalny, Razumey Vasiliev. The legend has it that for his sick daughter this master made a bouquet of crystal flowers which helped her to feel the joy of life again and to recover. This story touched me to the quick and I saw the essence of what Alyona was doing. And later we were able to create a special «overcoat» for the spacesuit Orlan, to deliver it to the board of the international space station and then back to the Earth. We called it «Victory». Little patients from various cancer centers with the help of the artists from the Unity team painted «Victory» — they depicted on it their most secret desires. On board the international space station I looked through the children’s paintings and one of them caught my eye at once — it was a little prince, to be more exact, a Little Princess with her rose. It was a curious coincidence because right at that time I was listening to the audio-book «The Little Prince» by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. It made me know at once which emblem I and Anton Shkaplerov would use for our spacewalk. I am grateful to all my colleagues who helped us to carry out this project, those of them who managed to remain kind-hearted and capable of thinking not only about personal benefits. I wish all our little painters a quick recovery!

Badminton. I got to know you thanks to my profession. And despite the fact that it happened much later than I would like to, you came into my life so naturally and became the integral part of it as if you had always been there. Now I am sure that badminton is not just a sport but it is a lifestyle that allows not only to increase life expectancy but also to improve life quality. I have not seen people so light on their feet at the age of 65 than those whom I met on the badminton court. I think that to play badminton is the best way to relieve stress and anxiety and have fun with friends. For this reason on January 01, 2018 all our crew members played badminton on board the international space station. So badminton is the first team sport that has been played beyond the Earth’s boundaries. Wishing to share my love of badminton with my fellow countrymen in the Oryol region I founded the Federation of badminton in Oryol. On June 23, 2018 we set an unofficial world record when I played badminton with everyone who wanted to for 24 hours. And on August 04, 2018 we held the first tournament. Do try and play badminton! I am sure you will regret that you have never done it before.

It seems impossible to overestimate the importance of these qualities in our life. But I should admit that I realized this only when some smart and clever people drew my attention to them. And then, looking at a huge experience I had accumulated as if through a special colour-filter, I suddenly saw their manifestations and was amazed at the fact how much these, undoubtedly, invaluable traits of character influence each of us. Trust and responsibility are interconnected like the DNA spirals; and we ascend or descend them in our life the way we go up or down a spiral staircase.

Everyone at least once in his life asked himself this question: "Why do we live, what is the true meaning of life?" Is it only to aimlessly continue to reproduce oneself and collect material values which lose all their value on the threshold of death? But it is stupid. Then why do we live?

Everyone who has ever thought about this finds the answer himself. I found this meaning of my life a long time ago. I did not invent anything new, I just admitted to myself, in my heart and soul, what in my opinion made sense for me and was never worried any more by this question and stopped my searches. It makes no sense to create a biological colony of multicellular organisms which only know how to live in enmity with the outside world, other colonies and every single species within it. And the aim of all this is just to provide food and reproduce oneself, and to make it possible for the colony to autonomously support its population without any reason...

I do not believe it. I believe that everything is much more complex and is arranged with deeper meaning. I believe that each of us is only temporarily connected with this biological body. And this is so for each of us to get prepared for another life, to become strong and tough so as to meet its requirements, just like steel is hardened in the oven.

All hardships and trials that we face in life are given to us in proportion to the amount of strength and power we have to overcome them.

Everyone is sure to know these words but you understand the real depth of their meaning only when you come to this conclusion on the basis of your own experience. Therefore it is very important to be observant.

Every event in life is a lesson, an opportunity for our self-improvement. If the lesson is not learned, it should be repeated again. And every person whom you meet in life is either a good mentor or a helping friend or just a role model to follow. Even a most unpleasant acquaintance is not accidental in our life. He also teaches us a lesson giving us an opportunity to overcome another hardship in life. Every time when you are annoyed at another person’s behavior or when things happen the way you do not want them to - it is just another training you are offered, training of how to improve yourself – the one who will not die when his body perishes.

When you start to think about it seriously you begin to look at events and people who took part in them with different eyes. I used to dislike some people very much. But now as soon as I begin to understand that this person is my teacher who is sent into my life on purpose to give me an opportunity to learn how to control my emotions, thoughts, words and actions, to help me to find in myself necessary qualities, I start to treat this person differently. When you realize that all the people you meet in your life are not met by mere accident, you change your views and begin to look at everything with different eyes.

The most beautiful thing I have seen in space is our planet. Our Earth is not just a planet, it is undoubtedly an extraordinary masterpiece, a creation of perfection, though perhaps it is not a unique one in the universe. And so the first second you look at space through the porthole, all your thoughts go away, your breathing and pulse slow down and you are so much absorbed in watching it and you are never bored but want to see it over and over again...

A bit later you become aware that our life – the way we understand it, is a result of a coincidence of many simple physical conditions, simple but of galactic importance. And I ask myself: "Can it all be accidental?"

«...we climbed up the ropes, then down, then up again ... then we swam across underground lakes and at those moments I recalled scenes from modern science fiction films I so well knew - «This film seems to be shot on this location, and that film seems to be shot here…» It was so breathtaking!»

Extracts from the diary:

8 september 2014

...Today we went into a cave, for the first time in my life. It was a cave with the beautiful name of saOche, which can be translated as «Voice». They say it warns cavers about an upcoming danger ... (let’s not talk about this today).

I had never experienced such positive emotions before. Well, perhaps only when I flew low- altitude aerobatics with Viktorovich, then I was so filled with the same feeling of delight that I couldn’t hold my emotions to myself and shouted with delight.

SaOche is a beautiful cave with a system of underground lakes, we swam there in rubber diving suits, enjoyed the beauty of this new world which I was just opening to myself and about which I had had no idea the day before...

Tomorrow we will talk about stressful situations in which Loredana would like to put us.

It suddenly came into my mind that there are two types of stress. One is sudden and strong, the other is not so strong but of a longer effect! These are two different kinds of load. The resistance to the first type of stress we successfully train when we jump with parachutes and perform flights. The second type of stress manifests itself in such situations as finding oneself in caves, when you are forced to be there not for several seconds or minutes but for days and weeks.

9 september 2014

... So in the course of survival-in-the-cave trainings man’s resistance to the second type of stress is perfectly trained. I mean that this is the way to create such life conditions which seem not to stress you out within short periods, say, an hour or two or even a day, but within a week the total impact of all external factors on you is much greater than the stress that you can experience jumping with a parachute, even with 40-second delayed openings.

So, today our luggage was brought, by evening time my leg seemed to be in perfect shape again, the first symptoms of the flue (caused by drinking cold water) were got rid of with the remainder of the mouthwash (with which I rinsed my throat), I got to know the people better and our communication became more comfortable. Life is getting better. :)

We trained our main actions in the cave, edged our way through narrow tunnels ... and saw another beauty of the caves which captivated me the same much as yesterday's swimming in the underground lake! After that I made for myself two major safety rules:

1 Before making any sharp movement in a narrow place you should look carefully where your head or your back will happen to be, so as not to hurt them against, say, hanging stones;

2 No matter how captivating and breathtaking the entrance into a new gallery is you should not rush forward but look back and REMEMBER the way back!!! ...

10 september 2014

The Sos Jocos cave day ... …let’s continue our talk! The day was perfect today!

What I really like is the fact that even though we work every day from 7.3 am till 10pm and so there is only one hour left to have access to the Internet and to wash ourselves ... and there is no time for sleep at all, but for all that every day I have new and only positive impressions and emotions!!!! And I am grateful to the Lord for letting me meet such wonderful people like Scott and Loredana.

So, today was a great day which we spent in the cave called Sos Jocos, this name means «Games». Can you guess why? Our task was the following. In groups (our group included Scott, Antonio and me) we should go ahead following the instructor and make our way through all the cave cracks after him. At the end by your wish you could try to move through the narrowest of them on your own, it was so narrow that you could easily get stuck in it ... I was twice as happy. First, because both Antonio and Scott unanimously agreed to overcome this obstacle together with me (it seemed that in the other group not all the members were unanimous about it), and secondly, I ticked myself off a little leading the way through this narrow tunnel (it wouldn’t have been so interesting if I had followed anybody).

So, this cave is called «Games» because there are many tunnels there which go in different directions. Our instructor Francesco (it is a male name, don’t mix it with the female name Francesca) deliberately moved a bit faster for us not to be able to remember the way back, so on the way back we really lost our way twice. One time we were not ashamed of it because the instructors themselves stopped us as they did not want us to go along rather a slippery balcony, so it was for our safety reasons. Though when we were walking along it, it was obvious that we were taking the right direction. But the second time the situation was so ridiculous that we were ashamed of it - we got out of a relatively narrow tunnel into a fairly large gallery, several narrow tunnels led from it in different directions. Nobody remembered where we should go next. We began to try to move through one, then another, and we did not notice a huge opening of a tunnel just on our right (do not forget that in caves all the light comes only from helmet lanterns)... Besides, at the end of the path Loredana helped me with a hint one more time ... I felt thankful to her but at the same time a little upset because she had to do it.

As a result, we with Scott decided that if we went to study new caves again then every time we would draw «a map» with the number of tunnels and the information which one we picked up and which one we would take on our way back.

After reaching the surface we had about 20-minute rest in a little open-air cafe indulging in a small glass of beer and pleasant relaxing music. I was sitting enjoying the atmosphere around but even more pleasant for me was the understanding that even though this trial of the day was not easy but in our group there had been no tension.

It is nice to understand that you can do it. And it is even nicer to understand that we can do it together! Speaking about psychology. I understood today that with Scott, Mathias and Sergei I would get on well. Scott and Mathias feel the same about me, for Sergei it is not difficult at least... Luka is a good guy, he can easily be the heart and soul of the company, he instantly grasps your ideas, before you can say a word (he is obviously an excellent pilot) ... ...Well, well, my mind seems to be so tricky … I have never treated this seriously. Thank you, Loredana.

Good night to everybody.

11 september 2014

So, good evening, everyone!

Tomorrow in the evening we are going into a cave for six days. Today has been a hectic day with everyone’s learning the basics of mountaineering. I think everyone has learned it well enough, though this volume of vital information and skills should not be learnt and practised on one day only. As Francesco said it takes novice cavers a week to get trained! Mathias surprises me in a positive way. He is a scientist, an engineer by education, he has a broad outlook and certain leadership qualities. By his good and not abrupt manners you could easily think that he wouldn’t survive any strenuous physical activity in non-standard conditions. But it turned out otherwise! At the same time we easily understand each other. I am sure that we are going to feel easy and comfortable together.

Well…I feel strange taking notes of my thoughts and thinking about it at all. Perhaps it is another proof that it takes me longer to grow up.

So, in general, now everything is in its place, everything is ready and all is quite clear to me. To tell the truth, I wouldn’t have been able to do it any better. We are all ready and this shouldn’t be a trial for me (I am not going to count the days there, in fact) but a terrific journey in the company of great people!

In two minutes the lights and hot water will be turned off – I have to rush to take a shower!

---

In the caves, as well as during the parachute operations training there were such people around us who did not just do their work but for whom the sky or caves were their universe. These people are great professionals, they ceased to think about getting any profits for their work or maybe they have never thought about it at all, they just do the job of their life, it is their world. And it is obvious that because their job in the both cases has to do with a very serious risk, they all are men of generosity and honesty, and you feel it when you find yourself near them, looking into their eyes, talking to them. Kindness, openness, warmth, calmness, self-confidence, inner power, an excellent sense of humor – they all have these features which make you feel respect for them and arouse in you a desire to be like them. For me, being beyond the borders of our everyday reality, in an enchanting and extraordinary New World, surrounded by these amazing people who are so unlike others, was a real gift of fate! I will be forever grateful to these people for opening new worlds to me, introducing me to them, opening their hearts and souls to me and for helping me to become better.

When I was at one of our regular sessions in Houston, I could not but fly for a weekend to visit my friend in Los Angeles, simply because we are close friends and also because we had some business to finish ...

We were so happy to see each other again that time flew that evening ... and all of a sudden it was morning again and we were standing at the foot of Wilson mountain. This time we were to make a 50-kilometer speed march which we had planned the previous time when we met, along the winding mountain paths.

Technically speaking, there were new nuances about this adventure. For example, we had to run along a path that was narrow and far from being hard under our foot. In addition to that, under the overgrowth of bushes, trees and bizarre century plants (Spanishsolder) which had very big and spiny leaves, this path was edged to the very brink of the cliff. Realizing that it was hardly possible to descend the path and come into the gorge without any assistance remaining safe and sound at that, and knowing that our mobiles were not catching a network signal, we fixed our eyes on the path not to stumble and lose our footing. Besides, the shadows cast by all this rich vegetation on the ground were uneven and broken, so they were like a mosaic made of curious dark and light spots. This made it much harder for any running man to see stones and obstacles on the path. After running so for about thirty minutes I suddenly realized that my eyes were tired from running, this feeling I had never experienced before. You run in the shade, then suddenly you come out into a glaring sun, then in the shade again and so on … it felt like +38 in the shade at the foot of the mountain ...

This time, the adventure was not without some victims. While running we devoured a hundred of innocent small flies which got into our mouths some accidentally, some on purpose. And since we had a water limit of 3 liters per person it was rather stupid to wash them down with water and thus waste it. The insects left a bitter taste in our mouths ...

When we ran up high enough to meet no bicyclists in helmets and dashing down, we saw a curious structure with an inscription which had some mystery about it because it said «Cape of Good Hope» (see the photo). This house seemed closed and so this hope turned out to be somebody's irony which however seemed to give additional acceleration to the cyclists in whose eyes we could see a new hope whenever we met them.

Anyway, it was already dark when we crossed the longed-for finish line with the figure of 50.5 km on it, and without changing our clothes we headed to the nearest store to buy champagne. Our legs were tired from running and weak at the knees, the muscles were stone-like, the blisters in silent bewilderment and with every step seemed to cry: "Who needs it? And why?” Sweaty all over and covered with dust, we crept out of the car and to onlookers we could look like two Winnie-the-Poohs that had climbed onto a tree bee hive where they ate too much honey, were severely stung by bees and fell down from the tree onto the dusty ground. That was how I pictured us to myself.

But my story today is about another thing. When I was in the so-called first form of my «space school» preparing for one of our regular tests - the soundproof chamber, I learned that every cosmonaut (to be more exact, the commander of a crew) had to pick up his own unique calling signal before the flight. In addition to this training we had to study other disciplines, among them the stellar map, and at once I knew that my calling signal would be «Altair.» With it I passed my test in the soundproof chamber. Later I learned that my calling signal was already used by some other cosmonaut. Never before had anyone taken the same calling signal as somebody else, but I so strongly felt it was my signal and I did not want any other. I thought about it and suddenly a bold idea came into my mind - to ask the respected and experienced cosmonaut Gennady Ivanovich Padalka to let me use his calling signal when his flying career was over. When I was appointed commander of the Soyuz MS-04 spaceship and already had experience of spaceflights as a flight engineer, holding my breath I blurted out my humble request to him ... And I heard: «Why not? This calling signal should continue its flying career. Sasha, come on, let’s maintain this tradition!» I was happy though could hardly believe my ears.

Gennady Ivanovich, despite his solid experience, continues his flight and parachute trainings, which are my favorite ones. We make a pair when we play badminton. Recently he has performed an aerostat parachute jump. It is obvious that we have some similar interests, perhaps, even some traits of the character ... And the wish to fly with the same, very specific calling signal «Altair» can be a proof of it too. Perhaps, there is some truth when people say that the name not so much shapes your personality but rather characterizes you in a certain way.

So these were my thoughts which I shared with my friend during our speed march.

— And when I was young I was a leader of a student construction team called «Altair»! The man was smiling at me. The man who has constructed rockets since his early childhood and who now works at the most daring and exciting space project of our time. The man who is Dr. Sci. in Physics and Mathematics, Professor of Moscow State University and UCLA, a leading researcher at JPL NASA, a corresponding member of the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA), Candidate for Master of Sport in weightlifting ready to test his stamina and mould his character in difficult situations, and my friend - Vyacheslav Gennadyevich Turyshev!

Right was the poet saying «So, what then is my name to you?»!

The examination complex training is far behind now, I can breathe out and relax for a couple of days. We have not yet left for Baikonur to see off Sergei's crew, but we are already beginning our preparation and training as the main crew of the Soyuz MS-06 spacecraft ... That is how I started this story which I am finishing here at Baikonur during the pre-launch training of the crew of the Soyuz MS-05 spacecraft. Anyway, I would like to share with you my unusual experience and unforgettable emotions that I had not so long ago.

Talking about my flight experience, I can say that one of my favorite flight assignments has always been training the skills of performing a final approach and landing in the situation of an engine failure. A pilot performing this landing approach should be capable of analytical calculations in real time and have perfect piloting techniques. You should compare the rate of the altitude decrease and the rate of the reduction of the distance to the airfield, taking into account the wind which can vary at different heights, and you should try either to shorten or extend the landing path, then you extend the flaps for landing a bit sooner or a bit later – all this is done to finally approach the runway at the correct height necessary for landing. And if in the case of a regular landing the altitude should be 260 m when the plane is 4 km away from the runway, then in the case of simulating an engine failure at the same distance the altitude should be 1000 m (for an L-39 aircraft). At first it seems that you do not just glide down onto the runway but nose-dive onto it and it happens at a higher speed if compared to a regular landing. This is an unforgettable feeling and real satisfaction when you realize that you have managed to do it – analyzed and calculated every detail, made corrections when necessary and finally landed the aircraft within "the exact landing area". Later on I found out that during the preparation for the Lunar program to train the skills of landing onto the Moon Soviet cosmonauts were trained to perform the landing in the situation of an engine failure on helicopters - they performed an auto rotation landing. They were going down to a chosen area. Then under the pressure of the incoming air flow the main rotor spun and at the very last moment, a few seconds before touching the ground, the pilot by changing the position of the main rotor blades for some moments created the lift power enough to reduce the vertical speed and land safely. In April 2017 I had a chance to fly with the best pilots and to see what the simulation of an engine failure with the helicopter is! I was absolutely delighted, I really want to learn this skill when flying a helicopter.

But who could ever fancy that a landing can be performed in the emergency case of an engine failure even when you fly a balloon!

Not so long ago we decided to fly a hot air balloon with our kids. I will not describe here the details of our preparation, just will say that our adventure began absolutely quietly, the only mischief was mosquitoes which flew out on their evening hunt and which tried in every possible way to ease the burden of our balloon and carry us away one by one before the balloon was launched. Finally, we got into the air, the kids liked everything and I did too. Our pilot was very emotional and easy-going and he was an aviator too. I do not know why but I asked him: "And at what vertical speed does the balloon go down if the burner is turned off?" The answer came at once, technical and precise. With the burner switched off the balloon goes down at the same vertical speed as the parachute when novice parachute-jumpers jump with it - 5.5 m/s. I was surprised at myself for asking this question. Why did I ask about this? Another 20 minutes we spent in a beautiful drifting mode flight under the clouds hardly moving up in the sky. Slowly we were moving «forward», that is where the wind blew. A small forest was stretching below. We were «to come into a landing» right after we flew over a couple of fields spreading behind the forest, when suddenly our pilot began fussing about something and doing something quickly with the gas cylinders. I looked down and all was clear to me - we were parachuting down onto this very forest below, just like the good old D-1-5u parachute does (this is the first parachute of a novice parachute-jumper) at the speed so well known to me of 5.5 m/s ... The lower we went, the faster our pilot tried to reattach the hoses from some gas cylinders to others. I was trying to help him and kept the burner always turned on but it was unlikely to be able to heat anything. I hoped though that it would give us a chance to win at least a few seconds. This is when you feel adrenaline rushing through your veins! When an impenetrable swampy thicket was well visible below and when I saw the large black unblinking eyes of a squirrel (I am joking of course) I realized – there was no time left. I was scared, scared for the kids. Landing at this vertical speed requires a definite position of the arms and legs of the parachute-jumper for him not to get injured and any parachute-jumper knows it. As well as I do. But the kids! Besides we were not in the parachute suspension system but in the basket with the space hardly enough for the four of us and four gas cylinders! I was afraid that the kids could get injured when landing (my daughter already had a cast on her limb at that time), that the basket could land onto an old dry trunk which were in abundance around there and then topple over - how would I be able to catch and hold my kids then?! And the kids watching our fussing around seemed to have a fun of the flight ...

As soon as the balloon began to touch the tops of the trees it began to slow down and, pierced in some parts with the branches, it moved to a stop. We were hanging 4 or 5 meters above the ground, just at the level where that squirrel could be sitting at that moment and looking at us with the questioning eyes - this question I could easily guess but never answer.

I had already started to crack my head how to go down from this height and get out of the forest which was small in size but completely impenetrable, when a backup burner came to life again and using it we were able to take off and the pilot landed the balloon perfectly right behind the forest. After the landing I found out that for some reasons the main gas cylinders did not have so much gas as our pilot had thought, that this balloon was not his own and that this situation could have been easily avoided if the pilot had known the design of the burner used on this balloon: all one had to do was to switch one valve to connect another pair of gas cylinders ... I really hope that it was a good lesson for him and he drew all necessary conclusions for himself. This incident made me think about many things: the responsibility of the balloon flight organizers, the responsibility for my kids ... The kids were delighted with both the flight and «the falling down» and the situation in general. So I decided not to think too much about it.

There was only one thought haunting me - about this small forest which happened to be on our way. And only later I realized how lucky we had been to have this forest in our lives at the right time and in the right place - the landing into it turned out to be soft and safe, unlike any landing with an engine failure onto an open area. So this time, like many times before, everything turned out well thanks to the force of circumstances which do not depend on people. Someone can call it a coincidence, well, let them think so. But I would rather say «thank you» to the Lord!