SPACE CENTER (HOUSTON), Jan 29: After first portraying him as a malcontent for saying his Mir spacesuit didn't fit, the Russians are now complaining about American astronaut Andrew Thomas' poor command of Russian.After a welcome like this, Thomas may be wondering which side of the hatch he wants to be on when space shuttle Endeavour pulls away from Mir today. ``I wish my Russian was better,'' Thomas admitted yesterday, after being informed of the latest criticism.
Thomas arrived at Mir on Saturday for a four and a half month stay. His crewmates will be two Russian cosmonauts who will reach Mir this weekend. They speak little English.
Thomas' soon-to-be commander, Talgat Musabayev, said on the eve of his launch to Mir that Thomas ``speaks Russian poorly, much worse than departing astronaut David Wolf.'' What's more, the cosmonaut said, it could pose problems with their work as critical station repairs are planned over the next few months. ``We understand that it will be hard for us,'' Musabayev saidyesterday, from the Russian launch site in Kazakstan.
``We had to work with him urgently and intensively,'' added Musabayev. ``But we hope everything will be normal, taking into account Thomas' professionalism and persistence.''
Thomas said he expects the language problem to ``slow us down a bit, particularly initially. But I think after a while, we'll learn a basis for communication, which will be acceptable,'' he said.
Late last afternoon, Thomas said goodbye to his shuttle crewmates, and the hatches between Endeavour and Mir were sealed in preparation for the undocking. The shuttle will bring Wolf back to earth on Saturday along with six other astronauts.
During a news conference yesterday, Thomas replied to questions only in English until a Russian reporter demanded: ``Speak Russian, please.'' The astronaut managed a few, simple sentences, speaking slowly and haltingly.
Thomas, 46, an Australian-born engineer, was a backup astronaut and never even expected to go to Mir until last summer, when afellow American was dropped from the lineup. Thomas first annoyed his new Russian bosses on Sunday when he announced he could not fit into his emergency spacesuit. It was too tight, he said. Nonsense, replied the deputy chief of Russia's Mission Control, who called the astronaut ``capricious''.
After cutting and loosening a few straps, Thomas squeezed into the suit.Thomas is the seventh and final American to go aboard Mir. Musabayev and Nikolai Budarin will be launched today to the space station along with Frenchman Leopold Eyharts, who will stay just a few weeks. Meanwhile, Musabayev noted that even Eyharts speaks Russian better than Thomas.
It has become evident that language can, indeed, make or break a mission, if Wolf is to be believed. He said his emotional low periods during his four-month Mir stay were precipitated by long working hours and his inability to make small talk with his Russian crewmates. The technical conversations came much more easily, he said.
Wolf said, ``If it's any consolationto Thomas, I can assure that space station Mir is a great place to learn Russian.''
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
