Life of an astronaut - Jerry Carr

Transcriber: Andrea McDonough Reviewer: Bedirhan Cinar

Translator: Monika Sitarčíková Reviewer: Samuel Barkóci

Normally astronaut training takes about one full year,

Výcvik kozmonautov zvyčajne trvá celý rok.

and it includes such subjects as

Musia získať poznatky z astronómie,

astronomy,

astrofyziky,

astrophysics,

flight physiology,

leteckej fyziológie,

orbital trajectories,

poznatky o obežných dráhach,

or orbital management.

alebo o orbitálnom riadení.

Another part of the astronaut basic training is survival training.

Súčasťou základného výcviku kozmonauta je aj výcvik prežitia.

In the days of Gemini,

V čase vesmírneho programu Gemini

you never knew for sure where a spacecraft might land

nebolo nikdy celkom isté, kde kozmická loď pristane,

if there was an emergency, deorbit.

v prípade núdzového návratu na Zem.

So, we had to take desert training,

Absolvovali sme preto výcvik prežitia v púšti, na vode a v divočine.

water training,

and jungle survival training.

Museli sme sa naučiť veľa užitočných vecí,

So, we had to learn how to cook and eat snake

and all other, such other good things as that,

napríklad ako chytiť a uvariť hada

and how to make water in a desert.

alebo ako získať vodu v púšti.

After that year and a half of astronaut basic training,

Po jeden a pol ročnom základnom výcviku

our names were all put on a list

sme sa dostali na zoznam kozmonautov,

and that list was quite a bit longer at that time

ktorých však bolo v tom čase priveľa.

then there were seats available.

Kým sa pre nás uvoľnilo miesto,

And so, we were all given other duties

priradili nám zatiaľ iné povinnosti,

to keep us occupied

aby sme boli stále pripravení

and to help continue our training.

a mohli pokračovať s našim výcvikom.

Five of us were assigned to the lunar module,

Piatim z nás pridelili prácu pri lunárnych moduloch

and our job was to be with these lunar modules

počas ich konštruovania.

as they were being built.

Strávili sme tam veľa času.

So, we spent a lot of time there.

I must admit that probably I had more time

V module č. 6 som aj spával na podlahe.

sleeping on the floor of Lunar Module #6

Strávil som v ňom viac času ako posádka,

than the crew who flew it on the moon.

ktorá ním letela na Mesiac.

Well, my next job was to be on the support crew of Apollo 8,

Neskôr som sa stal členom podpornej posádky Apolla 8.

and Apollo 8 was the spacecraft that flew to the moon

Kozmická loď Apollo 8 letela k Mesiacu a späť,

and came back but did not land.

ale na Mesiaci nepristála.

When they went behind the moon,

Keď sa nachádzali za Mesiacom,

they were supposed to do a thrusting maneuver

museli pomocou manévru zážihu motorov spomaliť natoľko,

to slow them down

so they would be captured into lunar orbit.

aby sa dostali na obežnú dráhu Mesiaca.

So we just had to sit and cool our heels

Nám na Zemi nezostávalo nič iné, len sedieť a čakať.

when they went behind the moon,

Keď boli nad odvrátenou stranou Mesiaca,

and we knew if they came out a little early on the other side,

vedeli sme, že ak ich uvidíme na druhej strane príliš skoro,

that they had not burned enough,

tak bol zážih motorov prikrátky, nespomalili dostatočne,

not slowed down enough,

nedostanú sa na obežnú dráhu, ale odletia do otvoreného vesmíru.

and were going to skip out into space,

they wouldn't be captured in orbit.

If they came out a little bit late,

Ak by sa ukázali o čosi neskôr, znamenalo by to,

it meant they had over-done it,

že to so zážihom prehnali

and they weren't going to be in orbit,

but were going to begin a spiral down to the lunar surface.

a zrútia sa na povrch Mesiaca.

And, of course, without a lunar module,

A bez lunárneho modulu

that kind of ruins your whole day.

to nie je príliš veľká zábava.

You can imagine how relieved we were

Viete si predstaviť, ako sa nám uľavilo,

at the instant that they were supposed

to appear on the other side of the moon

keď sa objavili na druhej strane Mesiaca v tom správnom okamihu.

that they appeared!

My next assignment was again a support crew assignment on Apollo 12,

Potom som bol členom podpornej posádky Apolla 12.

and Apollo 12 was struck by lightning

Do kozmickej lode udrel blesk počas

on its way off the pad.

štartu z odpaľovacej rampy.

A nearby thunderstorm,

Neďaleko zúrila búrka

there was a lightning bolt that went over

a blesk udrel do vrcholu kozmickej lode.

and hit the very tip of the spacecraft.

The charge went down through the spacecraft,

Elektrický náboj prešiel celou loďou,

through the booster,

down the exhaust gases,

cez pomocné motory,

and grounded out on the launching pad.

a zasiahol štartovaciu plošinu.

It killed the electrical power system

Vypadol elektrický prúd

and the computers all died.

a nefungovali počítače.

You can imagine what it must have been like

Viete si predstaviť, čo musela prežívať posádka vo vnútri lode.

for them inside because suddenly the lights all went out

and then they came back on

Zrazu na okamih všetko zhaslo.

when the batteries picked up the load.

Keď nabehlo napájanie z batérií, všetky prístroje znovu ožili.

And, every single warning light and caution light

in the spacecraft was on and flashing,

V lodi sa rozsvietila každá kontrolka.

and all the necessary bells, whistles, and buzzards

Kontrolky všetkých prístrojov blikali, bzučali a vydávali výstražné signály,

and things that are in there,

all were going off at the same time.

Všetky prístroje upozorňovali na chybu.

The crew was totally confused

as to what was going on.

Posádka zostala úplne zmätená, nevedeli, čo sa deje.

When we were settled in orbit,

we tested all the various systems

Keď sa dostali na obežnú dráhu,

skontrolovali sme všetky systémy

and everything looked good.

So, that, now I figured this is it,

a všetko fungovalo správne.

V tom prišiel môj čas.

and sure enough, I did get an assignment,

Poverili ma ďalšou úlohou. Leteckou úlohou.

a flight assignment.

I was assigned to the back-up crew of Apollo 16,

Bol som v záložnej posádke Apolla 16.

which meant that I was to be on the param crew of Apollo 19.

To znamenalo, že by som mal byť členom hlavnej posádky Apolla 19.

And, several weeks into the training,

Pár týždňov po začiatku výcviku,

NASA made the surprise announcment

that they were going to cancel Apollos 18, 19, and 20.

však NASA nečakane vyhlásila,

že ruší lety Apollo 18, 19 a 20.

We were in the middle of the Vietnam War,

Vojna vo Vietname naďalej zúrila

the budget was in bad shape,

so you can imagine there were three

a peňazí v rozpočte nebolo nazvyš.

very, very sad hangdog guys moping around the office

Takže si viete predstaviť,

ako to nás troch zlomilo.

because we lost our flight to the moon.

Prišli sme o príležitosť letieť na Mesiac.

But, several weeks later, I got a call from Tom Stafford,

Po pár týždňoch sa mi ozval Tom Stafford.

the Senior Astronaut at that time,

V tom čase bol vedúci oddielu kozmonautov.

and he wanted me in his office,

Zavolal ma do svojej kancelárie

and I went in,

and he told me that he was sorry

a povedal mi, že ho mrzí,

that I had missed my opportunity for the moon,

že som prišiel o možnosť letieť na Mesiac,

but he said, "I've got another assignment for you."

ale má pre mňa ďalšiu prácu.

He said, "I want you to be the commander

Chcel, aby som sa stal veliteľom

of the third and final Skylab mission."

tretej a poslednej misie Skylab.

And, he said, "Do you think you could do the job?"

Opýtal sa ma: „Berieš to?

And I said, "Of course, yes!"

Odpovedal som: „Samozrejme!“

And, I'll have to admit,

a certain lump in my chest and in my stomach,

Musím sa priznať, že som bol nervózny,

because I was a rookie,

pretože to mal byť môj prvý let.

and they normally don't assign a rookie to be a commander,

Obyčajne nebýva nováčik hneď veliteľom letu.

usually you have to have at least one flight under your belt,

Zvyčajne musí mať za sebou aspoň jeden let.

but they assigned me to that,

V mojom prípade to bolo inak.

which was really kind of a shock

Bolo to dosť nečakané.

because the last rookie commander was Neil Armstrong on Gemini 8.

Posledným nováčikom v role veliteľa bol Neil Armstrong v programe Gemini 8.

[Gerald Carr a 4 členovia jeho tímu držali v rokoch 1974 až 1978]

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