Almost 1,700 attend cosmonaut's talk

FIFTY YEARS after Yuri Gagarin’s historic first flight, the lure of space travel remains as powerful for young and old.

Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko’s presence at the Helix in Dublin City University (DCU) yesterday attracted almost 1,700 people, within days of advertising his arrival.

Mr Kornienko proudly displayed Russia’s highest honour, the star-shaped Hero of Russia medal, that he was awarded by Russian president Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday as part of celebrations to mark Gagarin’s achievement as the first human in space. He confessed to being a little tired after his flight from Russia, although it hardly compared to the 176 days, one hour and 18 minutes he spent circumnavigating the Earth last year.

Though manned space flight may be stuck in the Earth’s orbit for the time being, there are few subjects that attract such curiosity, especially among schoolchildren.

More than 750 of them from various local schools turned up in the morning to hear Mr Kornienko give a presentation on his time on board the International Space Station (ISS). Some of the questions were technical and even philosophical. What’s the point of space travel? How does it benefit mankind? Would we be better off sending robots? Is the journey to the space station automated or does it involve piloting?

Then there were the more personal questions, often accompanied by giddy laughter from the audience. What time is it in space? (It’s British Standard Time). Do you sleep standing up? His answer is that there is no up or down in space, but technically speaking he sleeps on the ceiling as orientated from Earth. Can you shower in space? No, you have to use wet wipes. What do you do if you get sick in space? You don’t and if you do everybody has medical training. What are the long-term health effects of spending a long period in space? There are none, he says, though he did grow temporarily by 3cm on his return to Earth.

It was well into the question and answer session before somebody asked the question that always seems to crop up . . . how do you go to the toilet in space? The answer was lost in audience chatter, but, according to the space station’s website, there are two unisex toilets on board the ISS. They operate by a vacuum method and the crew has to stand up.