Roscosmos cosmonaut Ivan Wagner, who became the fifth TASS special correspondent on the International Space Station (ISS), turns 40 on July 10. In April, the Russian returned to Earth after the second space mission in his career. In an interview with TASS, Wagner told how he had been striving to become an astronaut since his school days and what difficulties he faced in orbit, and also shared stories about friendship with astronauts, whom he once helped out a lot with the help of hot borscht.
— Ivan, your childhood and youth were literally spent under rockets ploughing the sky, just 55 km from the Plesetsk cosmodrome. What are your childhood memories?
— Plesetsk is a closed city, so I've never been there as a child. But the rocket launch could be seen, especially in the evening. Closer to high school, we knew that the rocket would launch soon. You go out in the evening, you wait. I saw in my childhood how the first stage is separated from the "Union". Sometimes it was possible to see the separation of the second stage. It was like a firework display for us boys. Childhood is the happiest time, and there are a lot of memories. My hometown of Severoonezhsk is located six kilometers from the village where my grandparents lived. I was constantly walking from village to village. My most vivid memories are running barefoot and swimming.
— Did your parents give you anything related to space?
— You couldn't find anything like this in rural areas back then, there weren't even any space-themed toys. My birthday fell during the haymaking season. Grandma had a cow, a calf, and in July we were all at the mowing. My father's birthday is July 15th. As a rule, we combined two birthdays and celebrated them in the evening after work. He was a long-distance truck driver, often went on business trips to Moscow and St. Petersburg and brought books about space, various encyclopedias.
— You decided as a boy that you would connect your life with the rocket and space industry. What inspired you?
— I really like fiction. In the mid-90s, video recorders and films about space appeared. Of course, they also influenced the child's consciousness. But in fact, I was more influenced by the books my parents gave me, so to speak. That's why I read about space and was interested. And the older I got, the more interesting it was.
All this had an impact, it slowly settled down, and in grades 10-11 I had a conscious desire to connect my life with the rocket and space industry.
— Share the names of your favorite space movies.
— My favorite is Star Wars. I often joke that I watched it as a child and that's why I became an astronaut. The most truthful is "Apollo 13". Many colleagues will agree that the scriptwriters did not embellish the story much. It's a feature film, but it's very close to a documentary. In addition, Interstellar is a fiction that initially does not pretend to be reliable, but at the same time there is a "strong" scientific theory, and it is interesting to watch.
— When did you realize that your goal was to become an astronaut?
— After school, I entered the St. Petersburg Military Academy at the Faculty of Aviation and Rocket Engineering. In the first year, on Cosmonautics Day, on April 12, cosmonauts, graduates of our university, came to meet with students —Georgy Mikhailovich Grechko and Sergey Konstantinovich Krikalev. And especially Georgy Mikhailovich told so many interesting things about space — as exciting as he could do it. I thought then that I wanted to become an astronaut. Moreover, there was an example before my eyes — the graduates of our university who achieved this. This thought was getting stronger and stronger in my head. After graduation, I purposefully searched for a way into space. I understood that I needed to go to Korolev to work as an engineer at the Energia Rocket and Space Corporation and look for an option there, where and how to apply for a commission to be selected.
— In April of this year, you returned from the second orbital mission in your career. What was missing the most in space and what struck me after returning to Earth?
— I didn't have enough loved ones — relatives, family. I missed nature, as I grew up in rural areas and have been a tourist since childhood. There wasn't enough normal soul. But when you return from a long business trip with a sense of accomplishment, if all the planned things have been done, then you experience an emotional uplift. We returned from space early in the morning, it was spring, and the steppe was surrounded by cool, fresh air and the smell of wormwood. I did not expect this: I had not felt such smells for a long time, I had forgotten about them. All this was very sharply perceived for the brain.
— Is it true that the ISS, contrary to myths, has very fresh air and no unpleasant odors?
— I would not say that it is fresh. The air on the ISS is as if the room had not been ventilated for a long time. When I first arrived at the station, the good news for me was that there were actually no pungent odors. Yes, the air is stale, but in fact everything turned out to be much better than I expected. Of course, if you open a heated meal or the same can of canned food, then odors appear. In addition, when on the Progress (unmanned cargo spacecraft — approx. TASS) fresh oranges or grapefruits arrive, we eat the pulp, and we specially crumple the crusts so that the essential oils scatter modulo. The fragrance is very pleasant, it immediately lifts the mood.
There are not enough such simple earthly things in space, and especially the sounds of nature. During the first flight, I talked with my wife a month after the launch, it was May. She says: "It was raining so hard today!" I immediately had the distinct sound of raindrops drumming on the roof in my head. I realized how much I missed hearing such sounds. The station has constant fan noise and the same visual volume, if you don't look out the windows. The brain lacks information, some kind of stimuli. And when he receives them, very vivid emotions arise.
— Was it easier to work in orbit for the second time, having already had experience, and are you satisfied with the results of the mission?
— Yes, it's easier now — you arrive with an understanding of what you want to do and what to expect from this job. You approach with a certain calculation and clearly understand what will happen at the exit. I am satisfied with the results, we completed the entire program together with Alexey Ovchinin. Difficulties have arisen periodically — the equipment breaks down, but we are ready for this, we are constantly fixing something. The equipment is constantly working, periodically fails. Sometimes repair work is even more interesting. Sometimes you have to break your head, it's a challenge. And when you fix it, you feel satisfied, because everyone on Earth is happy. It means that the work was not done in vain.
— Are breakdowns and constant replacement of components on the ISS already routine for astronauts, given the long life of the station?
— It's not exactly routine, but we are calm about it, because some systems have been operating around the clock for many years. There are resource replacements, replacements for equipment failure. If it's broken, we'll fix it. We have reported to Earth and we already know that work is planned and we will tinker with this system.
— There was a funny case when NASA reported an air leak on the Russian segment of the ISS in February 2024. The news caused a stir in the media. We tried to find out from Oleg Dmitrievich Kononenko, who at that time was a special correspondent for TASS on the ISS, about the "emergency" at the station. Kononenko replied: "Everything is calm with us, but what happened?"
— Yes, it happens that an elephant is blown out of a molehill. The leak has been around since 2019, we are looking for it, isolating it, and some new microcracks are appearing. It's unpleasant, but not so scary. As far as I know, Alexey Zubritsky and Sergey Ryzhikov managed to find most of the microcracks a couple of weeks ago, and the leak on the ISS is almost completely isolated. For five years, each crew slowly put their efforts into this task, and finally it was completed.
— During this orbital mission, a historic event took place — the first extravehicular activity in your career, which lasted 7 hours and 17 minutes.
— A spacewalk, of course, a vivid flight event. All astronauts want to do this. We are starting to prepare for this event back on Earth. A month before the VCD, preliminary preparation starts, and two weeks before we start assembling equipment, tools, and testing spacesuit systems. So we're getting ready to go out thoroughly, but not like that — guys, that's it, we're going into space tomorrow!
There were worries before the day of the release, but on the day of the release I already concentrated and went to work purposefully, as focused and careful as possible so as not to miss anything. I was so focused on the workflow that I couldn't relax and enjoy being in outer space. Yes, there are very beautiful views, sunsets, sunrises, but you are completely immersed in the work to complete the task and at the same time observe safety.
— For what emotions and impressions would you like to return to space for the third time?
— It would be interesting for me to take part in the expedition as a crew commander. Again, I would really like to fly on a new PTK ship, which is currently being created in Russia. A simulator for this ship has already appeared in Star City. We'll be back from vacation soon and we'll definitely start working on it. I also hope that soon we will have simulators for the Russian Space Station (ROS).
— I have a long professional career ahead of me. Do you have a cherished dream?
— Very soon, on July 15, 2025, it will be 50 years since the launch of the Soyuz—Apollo project. The project has become a powerful impetus for defusing international tensions. Tell us about the current relationship between astronauts and astronauts on the ISS.
— We communicate well with astronauts and understand that the health and life of each of the crew members depends on each of us. We see each other in training, we cross paths in Star City and in Houston, so the communication is quite friendly. We help the astronauts, they help us, we tell each other something. There are many such examples. So Sunita Williams and Nick Hague did a spacewalk, and we warmed up borscht and kharcho, and brought the Americans hot soup. Because we know that our colleagues are tired and frozen after the VCD. The guys are pleased, they are happy, and that's good.
On the first flight, astronaut Chris Cassidy was with Alexey Ovchinin and me. Chris and I used a manipulator to capture incoming ships. And when the astronauts left for the Space Station, Doug Hurley and I fully dressed them, because Americans can't put on a spacesuit on their own and need help. That is, I provided full assistance to my colleagues during the gateway.
Or, for example, Chris likes our coffee with milk. I gave him this drink once before going into outer space. The exit was successful. And a tradition was born — Chris flew in to drink our coffee with milk every time, and then happily went on a spacewalk.
— You are the ideological inspirer and organizer of the first of its kind kayaking expedition "The Way of the Ancestors" along the ancient trade route from Veliky Novgorod to the White Sea, which starts on July 26. How was the idea born?
— I've been rowing since I was a kid. I went on my first hike at the age of 12, and since then, even while in the cosmonaut squad, I tried to go hiking at least once or every two years. The idea of organizing an expedition dedicated to the historical heritage of the Russian North came to me a long time ago — in 2015. Before the flight to the ISS, I came to the conclusion that this route should not just be covered as part of a hiking trip, but should tell readers in detail about its various sections, places of the Russian North, which I often photograph from the ISS. Thus, the idea of the expedition was born — the reconstruction of the ancient waterway connecting Ladoga and the White Sea, along which the Novgorodians once walked. The route will be 1,500 km long. We plan to make a documentary film based on the results of the expedition.
— Is your body ready for such loads a few months after returning from orbit?
— We will find out only after the start of the expedition. Right now, I'm doing everything I can to prepare myself as much as possible. During rehabilitation, the focus is on the muscles that are most involved in rowing. We will spend eight to ten hours in kayaking, so the back must withstand this load. Therefore, a lot of exercises are done to build up the muscles of the back and abs.
