→ L-46: Rushed, rushed, rushed!

Rushed, rushed, rushed! Every single time I have left my apartment in the last three years to catch a train to the Frankfurt airport to head somewhere in the world for training, my luggage was ready when it was time to leave… and I mean exactly then, not a minute earlier. And every time I have prayed the astronaut guardian angel that I didn’t miss anything (or at least anything important) from my ever more inclusive packing checklist.

Why should it have been different today? Maybe because I will see Cologne many times from space (cloud cover permitting) before I come back? Or because I have a one-way ticket to Russia in my pocket – well, on my smartphone? Or because I have a Kazakh visa in my passport?

Or maybe because I have a lot of unique items in my carry-on luggage. Many little mementos that I will fly for family and close friends in my 1,5 kg personal allocation on the Soyuz, for example… not something I want to loose on the way to space (and back) and certainly not on the way to Moscow.

But I’m also carrying my Soyuz IMAK. No, I don’t remember what the acronym stands for, sorry. But “Medical” and “Kit” is probably part of that. The IMAK is like your little travel medicine kit. There is a bigger one for each crewmember on ISS, but we carry a smaller one in the Soyuz – that’s a necessary precaution, especially if something went wrong with our six-hour launch-to-docking profile and we had to spend two days in the Soyuz instead before arriving to Station.

And I’m also carrying my personal crew-worn-on kit. That’s a number of items that you sort of wear on yourself on your way to orbit: your kneeboard with pens and pencils (and their tethers), velcro strips, your portable stopwatch, your flashlight and yes… the emesis bag. That’s a fancy word for that bag that comes in handy if your last meal on Earth just doesn’t want to stay in your stomach…

Anyway, here I am now. Boarding almost complete on my last commercial flight: landing in Moscow late tonight, ready to resume training in Star City early tomorrow.

By the way, according to my mission paperwork, I’m not only heading to Low Earth Orbit (yuppie!), but I’m also heading to the Neutral Zone. Take a look! I sure hope those Romulans stay put.

Futura mission website (Italian): Avamposto42
avamposto42.esa.int

#SamLogbook #Futura42

(Trad IT) Traduzione in italiano a cura di +AstronautiNEWS qui:
https://www.astronautinews.it/tag/logbook/

(Trad FR) Traduction en français par +Anne Cpamoa ici:
https://spacetux.org/cpamoa/category/traductions/logbook-samantha/

(Trad ES – Currently not updated) Tradducción en español aquí:
https://www.intervidia.com/category/bitacora/