DAY 39 LAUNCH OF SOYUZ TMA-15: OUR TURN IS COMING UP

DAY 35

May 23

MOULDING AND FITTING FOR THE SOYUZ
DAY 39

May 27

LAUNCH OF SOYUZ TMA-15: OUR TURN IS COMING UP
DAY 41

May 29

THE COUNTDOWN OF MY MISSION IN SPACE BEGINS

DAY 39 May 27, 2009

LAUNCH OF SOYUZ TMA-15: OUR TURN IS COMING UP

Launching of Soyuz TMA-15. The acceleration is incredible and the noise is piercing; it’s powerful enough that we can feel the ground shake under our feet. And it all lasts just 30 seconds, much like a hallucination!

A visit to the launching platform (launch pad) of Soyuz TMA-15. For the first time, I see up close where I will be resting my laurels during the flight… Things that make you go hummmmm!

My eyes stay glued to the sky until the Soyuz is no longer visible...

Exit of the Kosmonaut Hotel where the three astronauts of Soyuz TMA-15 (Russia’s Roman Romanenko, Belgium’s Franck De Winne, and Canada’s Robert Thirsk) take the official walk just before lift off.

A picture of me during a visit to the Cosmodrome museum, in Baikonur, on May 27th. Behind me is a wall with photographs of every astronaut who has left for space via Baikonur. My picture will soon be up there (I hope!).

We had the opportunity to watch the launch from a rather uncommon vantage point. We popped open a bottle of champagne in the middle of the desert to celebrate a successful lift off. Then, we got on the minibus which proceeded to take us back to the hotel. After passing almost every car on the way, our vehicle started acting up and we had to pull off onto the shoulder of the road until the minibus finally came to a grinding halt! Fortunately, we were just 15 minutes away from our destination, and help showed up in a jiffy (and it was no camel)!

The content of this post is an adaptation of an original text written by Guy Laliberté.

May 26, 2009: Leaving for Baikonur to help with launch of Soyuz TMA-15. The flight from Moscow to Baikonur is about three hours long. Once at Baikonur’s airport, we have to transport the luggage to our minibus under a blazing sun.

It’s like we’ve arrived in the Twilight Zone, with a small police station housed in an old bus; camels sharing the road with cars; and a left lane which allows vehicles equipped with a special permit to pass everyone else!

We check in at the aptly-named Sputnik Hotel where the air-conditioning works so well we forget it’s over 30°C outside!

After checking in at the hotel, we visit the facilities where I’ll be quarantined for two weeks prior to lift off. The place is very ‘zen’ and resembles a small botanical garden. Now, I love gardens, so I felt enveloped and could easily see myself taking peaceful walks around it. I became even more emotional when I imagined my children and my love coming to visit me when the time comes, if they are granted permission that is.

There are several long paths lined with trees, with a sign in front of each and every one of them. This portion of the garden is home to a beautiful symbolic tradition. Indeed, every member of each Soyuz crew plants a tree before their launch. Their name and the date are affixed to it. Since we can choose the type of tree we want to plant, I thought it would be a great idea to plant… hemp! Oops!

After the visit, we ate supper at the hotel’s cafeteria. Dinner was followed by an impromptu cocktail where I became acquainted with several members of my new posse. What a fascinating world!

The next day, the gang and I returned to take the elevator, which took us all the way to the top (the astronauts’ cabin). Out of respect, I did not touch the shuttle, but I sure took a good look at it!

To think that in just a few months, I’ll be taking that elevator again, this time, to climb aboard the Soyuz…

It was incredibly hot! The effects of the heat were made worse by mosquitoes. It must be like a furnace inside an astronaut’s flight suit!

The timing was super for me… That day, we were accompanied by an African whom the Russians thought to be a famous star. They all wanted to have their picture taken with him which, in turn, attracted the media’s attention and allowed me to move along incognito.