This month cosmonaut candidates (Oleg Blinov, Pyotr Dubrov, Ignat Ignatov, Anna Kikina, Sergey Korsakov, Dmitry Petelin, Andrei Fedyayev, Nickolay Chub) finished one of the training stage passing the tests in soundproof chamber. In the course of this training mental stability of the cosmonaut candidates under the conditions of isolation with regulated continuous activity was tested.
The tests were conducted in a special room with sound-proof walls in GCTC Medical Department. According to Cosmonaut Medical Psychological Support Laboratory Head Oleg Ryumin complete silence is not needed anymore. “We needed it preparing the first cosmonauts for the space flights. That time the cosmonaut was alone onboard the spacecraft. Now the conditions onboard the ISS are different, we do not need this soundproof effect anymore”, – Ryumin explains.
Quantum test facility enables to simulate difficult living conditions such as forced rhythm, enclosed limited space, artificial light, absense of two way voice communication, continuous awaking etc. The main environmental parameters are temperature ( +20 + 25 degrees Centigrade), Earth atmospheric pressure, normal air composition. Cosmonaut candidate contacts the specialist’s team via computer in the form of short messages and commands.
For 64 waking hours every cosmonaut candidate had to perform a complex of psychological tests, simulated professional tasks and physical exercises , operations related to the physical state medical control, keep diaries and make reports.
“In the course of this test future cosmonauts gained unique experience of working in artificial ecologically closed systems under conditions of social isolation, – Oleg Ryumin states. – Due to this training they got the opportunity to assess their psychological qualities, endurance and stress resistance under conditions of difficult living environment during the accomplishment of different tasks and various tests. Following the factors this study on Quantum test facility may be considered as a training before the future space flight, since all the factors stupulated by the study are present during the real space flight”.
Following the conclusions made be the specialists (pschylogists and doctors) controlling the study this candidate group successfully coped with the tasks set.
