A triumphant Sharman is helped from the Soyuz Decent module after returning to Earth on May 26, 1991.
the universe, gravity will still play a
role whether it be in earth orbit or
around some far distant galaxy
so you are probably never really
weightless at all.
The docking with Mir was
something of a problem as the
usual automated docking system
failed and a manual docking had
to be carried out. After two days
of chasing Mir they had finally hard
docked and transfer could begin.
Helen was allowed in first and was
greeted by the two crew members
who were already aboard the
station, crew members that would
after 6 more days return to earth
in the same capsule as Helen. The
first impression Helen had of Mir was
how big it actually was (Mir was two
modules smaller whilst Helen was
aboard, than when Mike Foale had
his well-documented problems a
few years later) and was relieved
that she could finally have a good
stretch. “Every day is a bad hair day
in space” she told everyone, this
was shown graphically with a slide
of Helen floating around with her
hair resembling some out of control
seventies Afro from a Startsky and
Hutch programme.
As already mentioned, Helen was
to carry out various experiments
in her role as mission specialist
and these included observations
on germinating potato seeds,
and another in which plant seeds
germinated surrounded by magnets.
Others included earth observation,
growing large protein crystals which
can’t be done on earth and her
favourite where ceramic oxides
are placed on photographic film
which are then exposed to the
vacuum of space. This apparently
leads to the production of super
conductors. Helen believes that the
future of space flight lies in orbiting
factories where new materials
can be produced and utilised for
the space industry. Metals can
be mixed in space whereas on
earth they cannot, leading to the
manufacture of super alloys. On her
trip there was time for play though
and on the station were items of
amusement such as a guitar and
keyboard (The idea of spending 6
months listening to someone who
cant play either doesn’t seem too
appealing though) and a cassette
player for real music, but the most
used things aboard the station are
obviously the windows, where the
earth can be viewed passing by.
In the Mir station the air is filtered
through lithium chlorate canisters
which
replenish
the
oxygen
but just as important is the fan
that circulates it. This is essential
because there are no convection
currents in space, therefore without
a fan the air would not move and
a cosmonaut or astronaut could
quite easily suffocate on their own
expelled carbon dioxide. When
any item goes missing on Mir Helen
suggested the most likely place to
find it would be the air intakes that
are dotted around the station, a
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