PADI Divemaster Anton Shkaplerov is one of three cosmonauts who launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on a Soyuz TMA-22 spacecraft on 14th November and successfully docked into the International Space Station at 05:24 GMT on 16th November 2011.
Shortly before this, PADI Russian Distribution Centre (RDC) staff had been invited to visit Star City, where all Russian cosmonauts are trained, to meet with another cosmonaut and PADI Divemaster Dmitry Kondratiev whose mission in Space as a Commander of Expedition 27 was completed in May 2011. The RDC staff were very excited to meet Dmitry in person, as he had called them from Space to give a telephone interview!
Dmitry and his PADI Instructor and Cosmonaut Trainer Valery Nesmeyanov met the RDC Team at the control post and they entered where Yuri Gagarin began his progress towards the first space flight in human history. The visit included the Cosmonaut Training Centre where they had the opportunity to see a full-sized model of the Mir Space Station, a large G-Force Arm designed to simulate G-force during liftoff, a Souz-TMA spacecraft used for transporting cosmonauts and astronauts to the International Space Station and their launch and entry suits. Dmitry and Valery explained about the training processes; the psychological testing programme, vestibular apparatus and survival skills training necessary for cosmonauts.
The next destination was a weightlessness simulation tank called a Hydrolaboratory, capable of accommodating a 20-ton space station module used for preparation for spacewalks and weightlessness training. The pool is 12 metres deep, 23 metres in diameter and 5,000 cubic metres in volume. Dmitry spent hours in this pool preparing for work on the exterior of the International Space Station and Valery guided his training sessions.
Under special circumstances, certified divers can make fun dives to the submerged copy of the space station with a PADI Instructor (PADI Dive Centre Akvanavt is currently the only facility in Russia allowed to take groups to the Hydrolaboratory). They report that divers are amazed by the water transparency and bright lighting. The bubbles the divers create make the view even more picturesque.
One of the few things Dmitry took to the International Space Station in his allotment of personal items was Valery’s PADI OWSI (Open Water Scuba Instructor) Emblem. After having been brought back from Space it has taken its place in Valery’s Office in the Star City Training Centre. Valery is a keen supporter of the PADI educational approach and system, which he puts into practice not only when teaching PADI Courses but also when working with divers assisting cosmonauts during their training in the Hydrolaboratory. Dmitry and other cosmonauts are now taking the PADI Assistant Instructor Course with Valery.
We are very grateful to Dmitry, Valery and the other cosmonauts for choosing PADI as their partner in recreational scuba instruction and wish them every success in their work and future missions.