Kononenko and Choub’s press conference: do you know what “kononenki” are?

On September 27, 2024, a post-flight press conference of Russian members of the ISS-70/71 crew took place at the TsPK.

The space expedition of Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Shoub lasted 374 days, which is a record for the duration of work of Russian cosmonauts in orbit. And Oleg Kononenko also set an absolute record for the total time spent by a person in space.

Given these achievements, the interest of journalists and subscribers in the work and life of astronauts is understandable: two days before the start of the press conference, about 200 questions were received from readers!

But first let’s look at an unusual aspect:

American astronauts and flight directors measure spaceflight duration in “kononenkos” [en russe le pluriel donne le terme “kononenki“]record holders for the total duration of stay in space, the commander of the Russian cosmonaut detachment told reporters Oleg Kononenko (who was special envoy of the TASS agency on the ISS).

“When I handed over command of the station to [l’astronaute] Sunita Williamsshe said that now they measure the duration of stay in space in “kononenki” he said at the press conference after the flight.

At the end of his mission, Williams accumulated 0.375 hours of flight time, he said. After that, the flight director (flight director in Houston – editor’s note TASS) added that the Houston MCC also measures [le séjour des] cosmonauts in orbit in “kononenki”, added the record holder.

During the year-long expedition, Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Shoub conducted more than 60 scientific experiments, and the cosmonauts were asked which of them were the most interesting and what is the importance of the experiments for long-term flights, perhaps to other planets?

“Of course, all our experiments have the ability to stay there, which is why the development of life support and station control systems aims to ensure that all this is as simple as possible – working in space, and not being permanently controlled, exploited, or worked without the participation of Earth” replied Oleg Kononenko.

“All experiments can be divided into groups: for example, these are medical and biological experiments, experiments aimed at studying fundamental physical processes. Both are necessary to improve space technology and technology and enable humanity to go further into space. I would like to emphasize that there are a lot of experiments and they are developing: each subsequent expedition makes its contribution, creating new scientific knowledge“, added Nikolai Choub.

Subscribers also asked what technologies and scientific developments most inspire and surprise ISS cosmonauts, and is there a trend in the development and use of artificial intelligence?

“The station’s equipment certainly corresponds to current developments in science and technology on Earth. It has been modernized and new experimental equipment is supplied to the ISS. There is no artificial intelligence yet, but multimedia technologies are very widely developed. When carrying out work, we no longer use simple radiograms, but video materials, including animations. The computer network is significantly developed, there are iPads and other gadgets that make our lives much easier“, declared Oleg Kononenko.

“As for artificial intelligence, if AI cleans the station after us on Saturdays and Sundays, why not? It’s a pretty serious matter for three men: cleaning the station on two days off“, he ended his response with a joke.

Journalists also wondered why the crew only performed two spacewalks, when four were originally designated in the flight program?

“Two of the planned spacewalks that Nikolai Shoub and I were preparing for, as part of the 69th expedition to the ISS, were carried out by Sergei Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin, and they did an excellent job, they had everything made, one might say, from scratch.

According to the program, we had two outings left, numbers 3 and 4, and we completed them.“

“But, since cosmonauts and specialists on Earth are trying to preserve the resource of spacesuits, we tried to structure our work in such a way as to reduce the time spent in space and preserve the resource associated with further use space suits. As a result, we completed the work 2-2.5 hours faster than expected“, explained Oleg Kononenko.

And the subscribers were interested to know how Nikolai Shoub used the suggestion of his older comrade during his first spacewalk?

“This result is the result of enormous preliminary work. We completed a record number of dives in the hydrolab to test various elements of the trip, as our schedule changed significantly during the preparation process. So we were prepared for all possible and impossible situations“, explained Nikolai Choub.

“As a result, when we had already prepared to leave, left the hatch and opened the hatch, and we just did not think that this was the first exit, some kind of milestone, these were precise actions, almost automatic. During the preparation, of course, Oleg Dmitrievich was for me an example and a model whom I admired; he explained to me how to work better and faster“.

In addition to serious questions, readers are also interested in the details of everyday life on board the ISS. For example, one of the subscribers compared the equipment saturation of the station with a garage, an extremely important place for people, and asked how they arrange it in orbit?

“I want to answer with a joke: sometimes it happens that somewhere something goes wrong, and I said in my heart: well, it’s just a garage! And Kolya [Nikolaï] said: no offense, garages are so cool now“, smiles Oleg Kononenko.

“But seriously, each crew, each cosmonaut working at the station modifies it slightly, within reasonable limits, adjusts the layout of the equipment, the elements that he has the right to modify. This happens through coordination with Earth, but the limits within which the station environment can be changed are quite extensive and all cosmonauts take advantage of this, creating fine-tuning of the environment inside themselves. from the station“, continued Nikolai Choub.

An unexpected question was asked about the order in the cosmonauts’ wardrobe: how do they keep their socks white?

“There is no way to wash clothes at the station, so they are always new, there are usage time standards for different types of clothes: pants, shorts, t-shirts, including these socks very white. Every time we put on fresh and new things and throw away the old ones“, revealed the secret Nikolai Choub.

For the cosmonauts’ press conference, many questions were received from children. To one of them, from six-year-old Gleb, about the possibility and desire to take a pet, for example, a dog, on a flight, Oleg Kononenko replied:

“Now our cosmic life is like this, we are so busy that we practically have no free time, we are unlikely to be able to pay attention to our pets.“

For his question, Gleb received a gift – a photograph of the crew with the autographs of Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Shub.

But there were a lot of questions from subscribers, not all of them could be asked at the press conference, so the cosmonauts promised to study the entire list, answer the most interesting questions and offer a another gift for the best, in their opinion.

At the end of the press conference, Oleg Kononenko thanked everyone who followed the flight of their expedition and expressed his wish:

“When we are on board the spaceship, the station, we worry very much about our families, so I would like to wish everyone that everything will be fine in everyone’s families: the children grew up and did not get sick, the parents were alive, they earned a lot of money themselves, they raised their children and stood up. Therefore, good luck to all members of their family!“

The press conference lasted around forty minutes.

Sources: TASS and TsPK/Roscosmos; Photo credits: Pavel Shvets/TsPK/Roscosmos