04:40Russian cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov demonstrated and explained how the International Space Station's (ISS) critical systems are secured from accidental touching or damage.
In exclusive footage taken on Tuesday, January 9, the cosmonaut demonstrates what the protective panels for circuit breakers look like on the station.
According to Borisov, it is easy to bump into something in zero gravity and send it flying, but all cosmonauts know where to find it in the end.
"Firstly, yes, of course, we do catch some things: sometimes you brush against something and it starts flying away. But sooner or later it all lands on the ventilation grates - that's where we find it," Borisov said.
The cosmonaut also noted that traversing the ISS takes skill, and that mistakes do happen from time to time.
"For the first week or two, of course, the skill of moving in zero gravity is not fully formed, so we bump into something now and then, sometimes cameras, headphones, watches, glasses fly away. But as we fly and get used to moving in weightless space, we are actually quite adept at it: look, it's a wide corridor, as long as you don't spread your legs wide and don't brush against the walls, you don't catch anything," he remarked.
However, important systems that could pose a problem for the ISS crew members are, of course, under special protective panels. As an example, Borisov talked about the power supply switchboard providing power to the 'Electron' system.
"This system is working now: it generates oxygen from water. Quite an important system, if I switch it off, of course Earth will notice, it will be a serious problem - nobody wants us to switch it off accidentally, and that's why this switchboard is protected quite seriously. Look, there are slits through which I can see whether a circuit breaker is on or off. Here, for example, C-22 is on, but I can't even put my finger through to switch it off. I either have to use a pencil, or, as the engineers intended, I have to carefully unscrew this protective panel, which is secured here using four bolts, and when I remove it, I will be able to switch one of these toggle switches on or off," the cosmonaut added.
In conclusion Borisov explained that each crew member knows exactly which toggle switches are responsible for what, and 'in especially important places we simply remember that we should not grasp at anything here'.
Borisov arrived at the ISS aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon with the Crew-7 expedition on August 27.
The crew also included NASA astronaut and Crew-7 commander Jasmin Moghbeli, European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Andreas Mogensen and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa.
Borisov is the third Russian cosmonaut to travel to the ISS aboard a SpaceX rocket, after Anna Kikina and Andrey Fedyaev, who arrived at the station in October 2022 and March 2023, respectively.
Don't touch anything! Cosmonaut Borisov demonstrates how important switches are shielded on ISS *EXCLUSIVE*
Russian cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov demonstrated and explained how the International Space Station's (ISS) critical systems are secured from accidental touching or damage.
In exclusive footage taken on Tuesday, January 9, the cosmonaut demonstrates what the protective panels for circuit breakers look like on the station.
According to Borisov, it is easy to bump into something in zero gravity and send it flying, but all cosmonauts know where to find it in the end.
"Firstly, yes, of course, we do catch some things: sometimes you brush against something and it starts flying away. But sooner or later it all lands on the ventilation grates - that's where we find it," Borisov said.
The cosmonaut also noted that traversing the ISS takes skill, and that mistakes do happen from time to time.
"For the first week or two, of course, the skill of moving in zero gravity is not fully formed, so we bump into something now and then, sometimes cameras, headphones, watches, glasses fly away. But as we fly and get used to moving in weightless space, we are actually quite adept at it: look, it's a wide corridor, as long as you don't spread your legs wide and don't brush against the walls, you don't catch anything," he remarked.
However, important systems that could pose a problem for the ISS crew members are, of course, under special protective panels. As an example, Borisov talked about the power supply switchboard providing power to the 'Electron' system.
"This system is working now: it generates oxygen from water. Quite an important system, if I switch it off, of course Earth will notice, it will be a serious problem - nobody wants us to switch it off accidentally, and that's why this switchboard is protected quite seriously. Look, there are slits through which I can see whether a circuit breaker is on or off. Here, for example, C-22 is on, but I can't even put my finger through to switch it off. I either have to use a pencil, or, as the engineers intended, I have to carefully unscrew this protective panel, which is secured here using four bolts, and when I remove it, I will be able to switch one of these toggle switches on or off," the cosmonaut added.
In conclusion Borisov explained that each crew member knows exactly which toggle switches are responsible for what, and 'in especially important places we simply remember that we should not grasp at anything here'.
Borisov arrived at the ISS aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon with the Crew-7 expedition on August 27.
The crew also included NASA astronaut and Crew-7 commander Jasmin Moghbeli, European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Andreas Mogensen and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa.
Borisov is the third Russian cosmonaut to travel to the ISS aboard a SpaceX rocket, after Anna Kikina and Andrey Fedyaev, who arrived at the station in October 2022 and March 2023, respectively.
Russian cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov demonstrated and explained how the International Space Station's (ISS) critical systems are secured from accidental touching or damage.
In exclusive footage taken on Tuesday, January 9, the cosmonaut demonstrates what the protective panels for circuit breakers look like on the station.
According to Borisov, it is easy to bump into something in zero gravity and send it flying, but all cosmonauts know where to find it in the end.
"Firstly, yes, of course, we do catch some things: sometimes you brush against something and it starts flying away. But sooner or later it all lands on the ventilation grates - that's where we find it," Borisov said.
The cosmonaut also noted that traversing the ISS takes skill, and that mistakes do happen from time to time.
"For the first week or two, of course, the skill of moving in zero gravity is not fully formed, so we bump into something now and then, sometimes cameras, headphones, watches, glasses fly away. But as we fly and get used to moving in weightless space, we are actually quite adept at it: look, it's a wide corridor, as long as you don't spread your legs wide and don't brush against the walls, you don't catch anything," he remarked.
However, important systems that could pose a problem for the ISS crew members are, of course, under special protective panels. As an example, Borisov talked about the power supply switchboard providing power to the 'Electron' system.
"This system is working now: it generates oxygen from water. Quite an important system, if I switch it off, of course Earth will notice, it will be a serious problem - nobody wants us to switch it off accidentally, and that's why this switchboard is protected quite seriously. Look, there are slits through which I can see whether a circuit breaker is on or off. Here, for example, C-22 is on, but I can't even put my finger through to switch it off. I either have to use a pencil, or, as the engineers intended, I have to carefully unscrew this protective panel, which is secured here using four bolts, and when I remove it, I will be able to switch one of these toggle switches on or off," the cosmonaut added.
In conclusion Borisov explained that each crew member knows exactly which toggle switches are responsible for what, and 'in especially important places we simply remember that we should not grasp at anything here'.
Borisov arrived at the ISS aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon with the Crew-7 expedition on August 27.
The crew also included NASA astronaut and Crew-7 commander Jasmin Moghbeli, European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Andreas Mogensen and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa.
Borisov is the third Russian cosmonaut to travel to the ISS aboard a SpaceX rocket, after Anna Kikina and Andrey Fedyaev, who arrived at the station in October 2022 and March 2023, respectively.