ZVYOZDNY, Moscow Region. Oct 26 (Interfax-AVN) - Machines will never be able to replace humans in space, said crew members of Expedition Nine to the International Space Station (ISS).
Humans have the flexibility lacking in machines, NASA astronaut Mike Fincke told a Tuesday news conference in Zvyozdny following the crew's six-month mission.
When the crew was given orders to fix the American gyrodyne, it made a spacewalk, it was ready for the job and successfully carried it out, he said. If there had been a machine, it would not have been as simple and would have lacked flexibility, he said.
Russian cosmonaut and crew commander Gennady Padalka agreed. "What is the purpose of all these machines, if humans won't go there? That would be senseless," he said.
Yury Shargin, a cosmonaut from the Russian Space Forces who spent eight days on the ISS, cited as an example the U.S. Hubble space telescope which transmits invaluable scientific information but now requires repairs. "There is no way to do it without the presence of humans," he said.
The cosmonauts described their feelings when they returned to Earth on the Russian Soyuz spaceship.
When the reentry vehicle enters the dense layers of the atmosphere at a high speed, a cloud of plasma forms around it at an altitude of about 80 kilometers above Earth and communications with ground control are interrupted.
"The impression is unforgettable. It seems as if thousands of tiny stars are flying outside the window. It is very beautiful as if in a dream. Our landing was soft," Shargin said after his first space flight.