"It is very important that, as it turned out, our space suits can be repaired on the orbit. It is very convenient and, though it has to be done on the Earth, we have done it here. We are leaving the station and hope to get a certificate for the performed works. Currently operational on the ISS are two U.S. space suits out of three", said the astronaut.
Speaking of his younger daughter, who was born, when her father was already in the space, Mr. Fincke said "I am a little bit afraid that she will not recognize her father".
"But soon I will hold her in my hands and we will have a chance to get acquainted", he added smiling.
In his turn, onboard engineer of the new tenth ISS crew Salizhan Sharipov told reporters that it would have been good to have a small kitchen on the ISS.
"It would be good to cook something here, but we will have to follow the menu recommended by doctors. Under zero-gravity it is anyway difficult to blend, boil or roast anything. We can only warm our meals, because we only have a stove and a table", he said.
"Zero-gravity took me tenderly", Lietenant-Colonel Yuri Shargin, representative of the Russian Space Forces, shared his impressions of the first days of his stay on the orbit.
"I feel good, atmosphere her is completely different, I feel levity, I have a lot of impressions, but only on the Earth will I have the chance to think them over, because here I have too much work to do", he noted.
On Saturday, Russia's Soyuz TMA-5 manned spacecraft successfully docked to the ISS in the manual mode engaged by the spacemen a few minutes before docking.
Orbited were Russia's Salizhan Sharipov and U.S. Leroy Ciao, who will have to work on the ISS for 180 days. With them for a short trip came Yuri Shargin, first cosmonaut of the Russian Space Forces. The new crew will replace Gennadi Padalka (Russia) and Michael Fincke (USA), who have worked on the ISS since April.
