As Russia announces plans to launch a manned mission to the Moon – and possibly put the first woman on the Moon – Flinders University is hosting a visit by two experienced Russian cosmonauts for its 2015 Investigator Lecture.

The global space race is gathering pace with Russian space agency Roscosmos this week announcing its new spacecraft will make a maiden flight in 2021 as a prelude to making a lunar landing by 2029. Roscosmos said the spacecraft will dock with the International Space Station in 2023 and send its first unmanned mission to the Moon in 2025.

Already, Russia has sent six women on a simulated eight-day flight to the Moon to shed light on how crews will handle extended flights into deep space.

And that’s exactly the theme of the prestigious Investigator Lecture – how to live in space.

“How to Live in Space,” the annual Flinders University flagship free public lecture, will be held from 6pm on Wednesday, 18 November at the Adelaide Festival Centre.

Experienced Russian pilot-cosmonaut Sergey Treshcheov and chief consultant Professor Alex Akulov, both from Russia’s Yuri Gagarin Research and Test Cosmonaut Training Centre, will share their experiences of space travel, the effects of living in space for a prolonged period and the important issue of health for space crew. 

Treshcheov spent 184 days in space as a flight engineer at the International Space Station as part of the long duration Expedition 5 crew in 2002.

They will provide fascinating first-hand insights in to space travel and preparation for space station service given at the Cosmonaut Training Centre at Korolyov near Moscow.

Their visit coincides with Flinders University’s induction as a member of the International Astronautical Federation and our support for the major International Astronautical Congress to be held in Adelaide in 2017.

Mr Treshcheov spent more than half year in outer space and completed a spacewalk in 2002. He will share his experiences about the space flight, including the effects of living in space for a prolonged period.  

To help pass the time, he says he took his guitar into orbit and often sang his favourite song by Vladimir Vysotsky, with the line: “In the world there are no such heights that cannot be taken.”

Sergey says these words inspired him during a difficult five-hour repair job in open space on 26 August 2002 and became the small crew’s motto during the long stint in space. 

You can view some photos from the 2002 space mission on the NASA website here.

In Adelaide, Professor Akulov will share his experience as part of the Russia’s space training program, including how he helps to prepare space crew as cosmonauts. 

His preliminary insights, via email, include: “Cosmonauts are not super human or super sportsmen, they are just super smart human beings.

“Fortune smiles on those prepared. Besides tertiary degree, a future cosmonaut should have at least secondary intellect and primary ethics,” Alex says.

“One cannot change the past, but we can start controlling and changing the future right now.

“We can create the future with our thoughts today.”

All are welcome to register for this year’s Investigator Lecture which is part of the University’s public education program and adds to the cultural life of our community.

The pair’s Adelaide visit is hosted by Flinders University and the School of Computer Science, Engineering and Mathematics.

Their insights, and other speakers from the Australian space sector, will give a rare first-hand insight into the application of engineering and other disciplines in the astronautics field.

Event: 2015 Flinders University Investigator Lecture
When: 6pm, Wednesday 18 November
Where: Adelaide Festival Centre (Banquet Room), King William Street, Adelaide, 5000
The presentations will be translated into English at the lecture.

Click here for Event information