What played a crucial role for us up there was the daily routine. As on Earth, we had five working days a week scheduled for the minute. One can imagine that such a routine helps to forget the constraints. In addition, there was also a weekly routine, for example, we saved the dishes that were particularly popular for Friday or Saturday evenings. In relation to the current situation, it is very important in my view not to fall into behavior, to simply live into the day, but to try to maintain a fixed daily routine, but also to set accents: be it to eat something special or do something with the family that you don’t do every day.
It may not be easy for everyone …
That requires a certain discipline that you have to impose. But it pays off over time. Especially when, like now, you don’t know how long this situation will continue. It is particularly important to say: give yourself a routine and follow it every day. This is one of the experiences I have had in these two missions for almost a year in such an isolation situation.
Did you experience both stays differently?
Yes, there were big differences. First of all, everything about the first mission was completely new anyway. Then on the second mission, you had more space, a little more comfort and there were many more communication options with family and friends. When we were onboard the Mir station, we were only able to get in touch with the families once a week, alternating once a week via radio and every other week via video. The families had to be in the Russian control center in Moscow. On the ISS, we could call home or friends at any time and had a video conference with the family every weekend. It made a big difference. And one point that always matters is the food. It was good at the Mir station, but then also relatively monotonous.
And was there something you did differently the second time?
I have already spoken of the fact that you have an incredible view of the earth. And of course, I looked a lot out of the window from the Mir and enjoyed this sight. But when I got back, I still asked myself: man, why didn’t you spend more time on it? It was an experience that I took with me to the second mission: Enjoy the view every free second!
Do you think that in the current situation there is also something that we will say later: man, why didn’t we savor it better in the time of isolation?
I think a lot of people are experiencing a deceleration that has its good sides. It gives you the opportunity to reflect a little bit, for example, what focal points you want to set for your life. Instead of saying how bad and how terrible everything is, it is better to see the situation from a different angle: the whole world is affected, what does that mean when we have overcome this crisis? Hopefully, this leads to the realization that we can only solve the really big problems together. I think these are very positive aspects that I hope will help us all.
