April 10, visitors to the Moscow lecture hall of the Russian Geographical Society met with cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin who has visited the Earth orbit five times and made 9 space walks. The hero of Russia spoke about space flights and their role for geography and shared his impressions about what it feels like to leave the Earth.
The cosmonaut showed unique photographs taken through the porthole of the International Space Station. There are hundreds of unique images in his collection, including pictures of Elbrus, the Black Sea, Lake Baikal, the Volga, Kamchatka volcanoes and others.
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"I’m fond of taking photos of Kamchatka. Klyuchevskaya Sopka is one of the most active volcanoes in the Eastern Hemisphere and the highest active volcano in Eurasia. This is a miracle located in our country, " said the cosmonaut.
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Fyodor Yurchikhin noted that photos taken from the space help forecast weather, track various natural phenomena, and observe the ecological situation on the Earth.
The guests asked a lot of questions. What did the cosmonaut feel during space walks? How does a typical working day at the ISS look like? Do they need translators at the space station? Young visitors also wanted to know how to become a cosmonaut.
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About 30,000 people watched the lecture online.
Fyodor Yurchikhin was born in 1959 in Batumi. He graduated from Moscow Aviation Institute. He worked as a mechanical engineer for the Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia. In 1999, he was qualified as a test cosmonaut. In 2002 he made his first space flight aboard American Space Shuttle Atlantis. In 2007 he was the commander at the International Space Station and engineer at Soyuz TMA-10 spacecraft. He made 9 space walks. Yurchikhin was awarded the Hero of the Russian Federation medal, the Order of Friendship medal, the NASA Space Flight Medal.