EURASIA KIDS: about a Meeting with a Legendary Man on Cosmonautics Day

12/04/2021 15:26

60 years ago, Yuri Gagarin opened a new space era. It was the time of new people who knew no boundaries. I happened to meet one of them - twice Hero of the Soviet Union, pilot-cosmonaut Georgy Mikhailovich Grechko.

Our family archive has audio recordings of a conversation with Georgy Mikhailovich. I was six years old. This is my first interview in my life.

We met at the International Sunflower Festival. Today it has become a Eurasian project. That festival was dedicated to the Year of Space. Then I did not understand the greatness of the person whom I was speaking with. And now a globe with the autograph of Georgy Mikhailovich, I keep in my room, reminds me of that meeting. I would like to share with you my memories of meeting with a real man, a great cosmonaut.

About lightning and dark and white spaces

- Kirill, lightning is so powerful that it gives glare in space. On Earth, lightning looks like a meandering arrow, and from space - like a round saucer.

- I have a question. What are dark spaces?

- A dark space is such a place, if something gets there, it cannot return back. Even the speed of light is not enough to get out of there. There is such a hypothesis, we have a dark space, and everything that it has absorbed, it throws out in another space. So, maybe you will grow up and determine whether a dark space has a white space or not.

- How are they born?

- Probably, they are born this way. Take a look. The moon is small. The Earth is larger than the Moon; the Sun is larger than the Earth. And if the mass of the body is even greater than that of the Sun, then the gravity is very strong. And then you’ll never get out of there.

About the fear of heights

When you jump from a parachute tower, it is scary because you are afraid to crash. We jumped from an airplane from the height of 500 meters, it's not scary anymore, the land is far away. You jump not to the ground; you jump into the air. We jumped from three thousand meters, the same story. The ground is somewhere below, you are not afraid to crash on the ground, as when you jump from a small tower.

And 350 kilometres - why to be afraid? Once, oxygen began to come out of my spacesuit. The situation was quite dangerous. There is an injector, it is possible to compensate its consumption and keep it for a while, but if the hole is large, you cannot compensate the consumption; this means death. But we figured out pretty quickly what was the matter.

We did not shout: “Farewell, Motherland!” We just figured it out, set the pressure, and went on.

About panic

I made three flights with three crews. We didn't have any panic. But I saw one crew that had a panic. And I was scared. It is scary. Very scary.

It was scary when there was a fire. It is rather doubtful to extinguish the fire. You can't jump out, so it was scary. The most important thing is that it is scary and difficult as for the coward, so as for the brave. Then you’ll ask: what is the difference if both the coward and the brave are afraid? The brave man can suppress fear and act clearly, as it should be. And a coward, he will be so scared that he will simply ossify, and if he begins to act, he acts in such a way that it would be better if he would be stiffened.

It is scary as for the coward, so as for the brave, but a brave man knows how to overcome fear.

And I was very scared when the parachute did not open at a given time on the descent of the ship, then seconds passed and the spare one was supposed to open, it also did not open. This means death; there is no third parachute. It was scary to die. That’s when I got grey hair.

What am I driving at? While the flight is going well, while there are some small flaws, there is no fear. But when the situation is fatal, of course, it is scary…

About faith

First time I believed in God was during the war, because my mother was in the siege of Leningrad, my father was at the front.

Sometimes life hung by a thread, depended on the mood of the fascist soldier, and the only protection was God. There was no one else to ask for protection. Everyone believed in God.

It was then that one stopped believing, the situation stopped being deadly. For example, I stopped believing in God. Everything was fine, that was why I stopped believing.

And the second time I returned to God, 10-25 years ago, when I analysed my life. I was very hot man, imprudent, I tried myself everywhere: in the mountains, and under the water, and jumped with a parachute, and participated in auto races. Several times I was on the verge of injury, maybe even death, and each time some force saved me.

A shell exploded near the house. I was very close to this explosion. But not a single splinter touched me. The guys stood further, but were wounded. So I came to the conclusion that I have a guardian angel.

If it is true that a person receives a guardian angel when he is baptized, then I have two of them. My parents were unbelievers, atheists, and so, they did not baptize me. One of my grandmothers baptized me secretly from my parents, then another granny baptized me. It happened so that the second grandmother did not know that the first one has baptized me. And so I think I have two guardian angels.

I think that one guardian angel would hardly have coped with my fervour and imprudence. And together they keep so well that I am already 81 years old. If they will ask me: “Will you live to be 80?” - I would say: “Of course not. Are you out of your mind?” War, study, work, space… What are 80 years old? But, you see, the angels are saving me.

About myself

Prudent people do not go into space; they are on a quieter job. And we are hooligans. My name is George.

There is Saint George - the Victorious. And I am the sinful George - the Victorious.

But I met with the Pope twice. At the first meeting, he absolved me of all my sins that I had done on Earth and presented me with a bronze medal. At the second meeting, he absolved me of all my sins that are ahead, and presented me with a silver medal. So I am sinless. “Either stern, now amusing, a grey-haired and sinful Russian miracle man goes into battle...” (Tvardovsky, “Vasily Terkin”).

Prepared by Kirill Chirkov