back to article Astronaut trio blast off to space station with ... er, rearview mirror toy?

The three latest additions to the International Space Station crew have blasted off successfully from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Youtube Video Cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Oleg Skripochka, along with US astronaut Jeff Williams, lifted off aboard the Soyuz TMA-20M rocket at 1428 PT (2128 UTC) and are now on their …

  1. David 132 Silver badge
    Happy

    Essential part of every launch

    "Houston, we are owl systems go".

    1. ecofeco Silver badge

      Re: Essential part of every launch

      What a hoot!

  2. Lars Silver badge
    Linux

    Yes indeed

    There is nothing like a stuffed toy dangling from the roof of the capsule. Great, I will tell my great grand children about it. Was it a duck, was it a penguin, history will ponder about it, forever. Just kidding.

  3. willi0000000

    old tradition . . . visual confirmation of zero-g . . . probably started by Gagarin like so many other traditions.

    [ either that or they just like toys hung in the capsule ]

    1. Dave 126 Silver badge

      >probably started by Gagarin like so many other traditions.

      I like the tradition of cosmonauts and astronauts peeing against the wheels of the crew transporter on the way to the launchpad. Gagarin first did it out of necessity, and subsequent crews have done it because it is lucky. Apparently female cosmonauts bring a pre-filled bottle of pee (cue a Blue Peter style "Here's one I made earlier!") with them to splash on the wheels.

      1. ridley

        Actually how do the cosmonauts pee against the transporter? I know they supposedly do it and have seen pics but surely there isnt a zip in their spacesuit for them to get their tackle out and have a slash?

        AFAIA the merkins wear nappies in their spacesuits, do the ruskies have a cunning alternative?

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Actually how do the cosmonauts pee against the transporter? I know they supposedly do it and have seen pics but surely there isnt a zip in their spacesuit for them to get their tackle out and have a slash?

          Hose?

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          They all wear nappies, but not at this stage.

          The whole "wave to the crowd, get on the bus" furore is mainly for publicity. Crucially, the oversuits they're wearing are not for going to orbit. They would be deemed as contaminated at this stage.

          They go through another stage of getting suited-up once they reach the launch pad/tower.

      2. 7-zark-7

        I think they all (male and female) have pre prepared pee bottles and pour on wheel of transporter.

        1. imanidiot Silver badge

          Afaik, peeing on the wheel of the crew bus is only done at baikonur. The russian suit opens at the front with 2 zippers and underneath that a string tied around the loose end of the air tight layer of the suit (yes, really). The opening goes fown quite low, so the men can most likely get their wedding tackle out far enough for a tinkle.

          1. imanidiot Silver badge

            BTW, some may find this full list of traditions interesting

  4. Notas Badoff
    Headmaster

    English optional

    "The separation of the first core stage cured as planned five minutes into the flight, ..."

    Oh, 'occurred' ?

    Please disable the auto-suggest on your mobile's keyboard, fore awl hour sakes.

  5. allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

    Much cuter than fuzzy dice!

  6. Richard 81

    No sign of a wobbling hula girl on the control console though.

    1. Dave 126 Silver badge

      Or a nodding Churchill Insurance bull dog voiced by Bob Mortimer.

      Also, the very first appearance of the Sega character Sonic the Hedgehog was as an air freshener dangling from the rear-view mirror of a car in the arcade racing game Rad Mobile.

  7. Richard 12 Silver badge

    They've always done this

    It's the approximate spacetime curvature indicator.

    It's both more obvious and less likely to give erroneous readings than the other more precise units in the instrument panel.

    1. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge

      Re: They've always done this

      And if it's getting elongated, you are probably too close to a black hole.

      Inb4, "The Millenium Falcon has fuzzy dice in the cockpit"

  8. VinceH

    Are we sure it isn't a tribble?

    1. TeeCee Gold badge

      As there would seem to be only one of it, yes.

    2. Lake_Cochituate

      Can't be a tribble. There's only one.

  9. ridley

    Radio Caroline?

    I saw Tereshkova's capsule at the Cosmonauts exhibiution and in it was what looked suspiciously like a car radio, same size, format, same dial and knob placements.

    Surely she wasnt listening to corrupt capitilist Radio Caroline etc al when she orbited....

    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CcKJm4bUsAEMsOW.jpg

    You can just about see it on the right hand wall, just above the brown seating(?) material.

    1. BugabooSue
      Thumb Up

      Re: Radio Caroline?

      @ridley

      You're right - it really does look like an old "Two-Knob-Job" from the '70's/'80's!

      Never noticed it in the pictures I'd seen before. Nice catch. :)

      (Of course, I'm MUCH too young to have ever seen them in newly-built cars at the time... Or remember the truly awesome Radio Caroline "Pirate Radio Station" of which you speak.<cough!> Radio Luxembourg, anyone? )

      Thanks, Susi xx

    2. GrumpenKraut

      Re: Radio Caroline?

      > ... a car radio ...

      Could that be used for (one way) communication if everything else breaks down?

      Honest question.

    3. ecofeco Silver badge

      Re: Radio Caroline?

      RC? God I'm old.

    4. Black Betty

      Re: Radio Caroline?

      Could be a multi-band receiver. "Dial" looks a bit tall for a regular car radio, but just right for a multi-band receiver.

      You do know what's lurking behind that main instrument panel don't you?

  10. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge
    Childcatcher

    Putin getting uppity again, not doing as the Serious Empire tells him to!

    I do think this fluffy, unidentified stuff is 100% proof of Putin's revanchist and even irredentist attitude regarding our new practically po-faced NATO partners some of which are currently orbiting national-socialism like it's going out of fashion, but this shall be hidden by the Curtain of Righthought. Can't something be done, like ordering an additional dozen F-35 or so? That plane is practically done!

  11. Alan Sharkey

    Cool

    I have to be impressed - there they are taking off into orbit and he's just reading the paper - how cool is that.

  12. fritsd
    Happy

    barbatruc

    I for one welcome our new metamorphic, Barbapapa overlords!

  13. Francis Boyle Silver badge

    Also if you squint

    you can just make out the dashcam for recording wacky orbital near misses.

  14. OzBob

    From Chris Hadfields book

    it's an indicator for acceleration and an unofficial mascot. It also shows when Zero G has been reached.

  15. Lake_Cochituate

    I think I might get bored at over 700 days in orbit, but the record I'd go for would be a record 8th launch. Right now there's only two guys who's launched 7 times. I would just hope that I didn't have to pony up the fuel tab for that many launches.

    1. Black Betty

      Hey this ain't the Simpson's universe.

      Ten or no cigar.

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