Rockets with the name "Tanya" have been launched from the world's northernmost cosmodrome "Plesetsk" for several decades. Nuclear submarine commanders avoid going to sea on Mondays in every possible way. Strange signs and superstitions in the most advanced and technological spheres - what is this, dense backwardness or is there a reason?

Rogozin will send Americans into space on a trampoline

Let us note that most of the accepted beliefs, superstitions, beliefs and fads exist among astronauts and submariners.

As for Tanya. Meter-long letters are written three hours before the launch - and the special chic is that the authorities on the rocket do not officially allow anything to be written, but some daredevils do it anyway, hunkering down on the pre-launch scaffolding.

Retired and active military personnel from Plesetsk say that this unwritten rule still applies there. The “artists” who undertook to write four letters on the rocket body are not punished. Tradition, however...

Old-timers of the cosmodrome say that the inscription first appeared on March 17, 1966, when it was first launched into orbit from the Plesetsk launch pad spacecraft"Cosmos-112". At that time, a pretty manager, whose name was Tatyana, allegedly worked at the local canteen, and the name on the rocket was written by an officer in love with her.

According to the second version, the inscription is dedicated to the daughter of the commander of the test unit, Vladimir Tatyankin. Another assumption: Tanya is a nickname that was given to the commander himself because of the surname given by his subordinates. However, there is no official confirmation of these stories.

Now, as the northern spaceport workers themselves say, the name “Tanya” is written by one of the combat crew members while preparing the rocket for launch. Moreover, he never receives official permission for his “art”!

“Alcoholic” traditions are also known - you can “drink” for the first time 12 days before the launch, when the main and backup crews arrive at Baikonur for “detention.” Cosmonauts of the "double" are required to pass 100 grams of pure technical alcohol. The "main cast" can only drink a sip of champagne.

Before the start, the crew receives from the boss... a friendly kick. And all expedition participants must sign a bottle of vodka, which they drink on the ground, in the Kazakh steppe, after a successful flight.

What’s curious is that with the 13th there are no special superstitions Russian cosmonauts and the rocket scientists are not connected, and we definitely don’t have a “Friday the 13th” craze. But submariners are afraid of this day.

Going to sea on Friday, and especially on Friday the 13th, must be postponed under any pretext - this is what various father-commanders on submarines taught. It's bad to go to sea on Monday, good - on Thursday.

On a warship, not just an underwater one, you need to step exclusively with your right foot. If you hear someone on deck whistling or see someone spitting on her, immediately hit her in the mouth, regardless of rank and title.

A woman on board a warship is traditionally considered a bad omen, and this is only Russian fleet. However, a child on a ship is, as it were, fortunate. Do not offend the ship's cats, especially all black ones - it is fraught.

and superstitions are part of our history and culture as a society. It is a natural need of our psyche to turn to supernatural forces in case of danger. Sometimes they really help a person to believe in the best and avoid trouble. Astronauts are no exception.

The beginning of space superstitions was laid by the famous designer Gennady Korolev. Some of them are a thing of the past, while others still exist today. Here are some of them.

Superstitions of astronauts

1. Fear of the number 13

""Houston, we have a problem." Who doesn't know the famous phrase from the Ron Howard film. In fact, the phrase sounded like this: "Houston, we had a problem here." On April 11, 1970, the Apollo 13 spacecraft was successfully launched. flight was the landing of people on the surface of the moon and carrying out scientific research. However, this expedition became one of the most dramatic and heroic pages in the history of world astronautics.

Already at the 6th minute, troubles began: the central engine of the second stage switched off ahead of time. But the flight was not interrupted. And on April 13 (just a mystical coincidence) a much more serious accident occurred - tank number 2 with liquid oxygen exploded in the service module. But despite this, the astronauts survived and returned. Since then, NASA has disliked the number 13.

Russian cosmonauts have no special superstitions about the number 13.

2. Before launch

What to do a day before the start? There is a sign. Russian cosmonauts watch a film. But not just anyone. "White Sun of the Desert". This is due to the tragedy of June 30, 1972, when the crew of Dobrovolsky, Volkov and Patsaev died. The next flight two years later was successful. And it turned out that before the flight the crew watched this film.

American astronauts play poker or blackjack until the commander loses.

Traditions of astronauts

3. Urinate on the bus tires

This tradition dates back to Yuri Gagarin. On the way to the launch site, he asked the bus driver to stop, got out of the car and urinated on the rear right tire. In 1961, this made sense: the world's first cosmonaut did not want droplets of urine floating inside his capsule in zero gravity. Today there is no need for this, but the tradition remains. Female astronauts often take a bottle of urine with them in order to also observe the tradition.

4. On launch day

On launch day, astronauts eat scrambled eggs and steak for breakfast. After this, they are brought a pie, but all crew members must refuse.

Russian cosmonauts have breakfast with champagne, leaving the hotel they leave their autograph on the door and board the bus to the song “Grass at Home.”

5. Talismans

The tradition of taking a talisman with you on a flight and tying it to the control panel is a Russian tradition. But she also has quite practical significance: When the toy begins to float in the air, the engineers at the Control Center see that a state of weightlessness has set in. This means the launch was successful.

Some American missions also use mascots. For example, the Apollo 10 mission used Peanuts characters Charlie Brown and Snoopy as their official mascots.

Strange as it may seem, astronautics - an area where the most complex and latest technologies reign - is also an area associated with a lot of strict traditions and even superstitions. Everyone going into space is required to perform a lot of complex rituals, otherwise the flight will turn into a disaster.

Charms, songs and worship of the spirit of Gagarin - all this is included in the indispensable set of actions that the future cosmonaut must perform.

However, if you think about it, all this is not so unexpected: the laws of psychology are almost as immutable as physical principles. Thus, it is known that superstitions are especially great in those areas of activity where one experiences particularly high stress - for example, speaking in public or working at risk to one's life. There is plenty of the latter even in modern astronautics: out of 483 people, according to official data, who have been in space, 18 died. The mortality rate is thus 3.74% - this makes astronautics one of the worst professions in the world. For example, the mortality rate among American military personnel during the Iraq War (2003-2006) was 0.39%, and in Vietnam (1966-1972) - 2.18%.

Given this danger, it is not surprising that astronauts feel calmer and psychologically more comfortable, actively “protecting themselves” from mortal danger with the help of all kinds of rituals, talismans and amulets. This is the need of our psyche - in case of danger, to turn to a force “capable” of deflecting the blows of fate.

Another reason for active superstitions and rituals is something called “esprit de corps.” Cosmonauts, of course, belong to an elite closed professional group and, therefore, psychologically need signs and symbols that would separate them from other “mortals” and distinguish them among them. This function is partially assumed by the joint performance of seemingly meaningless rituals. Their participants strengthen the internal cohesion of the team, emphasizing their uniqueness.

The most interesting (and most numerous) superstitions exist in Russian astronautics. Some of them date back to our days, some originate from the Soviet era and the first manned space flights, and some are even based on very ancient Orthodox views.

A number of traditions and superstitions originate from Sergei Korolev, some of them have become a thing of the past, while others exist to this day. Thus, the first general designer believed unlucky mondays, and never scheduled launches for this week. For some time, people with mustaches were not “allowed” into space: in 1976, during a flight, mustachioed cosmonaut Vitaly Zholobov’s health deteriorated so much that the mission had to be aborted early. Today this tradition is a thing of the past.

Some superstitions in Russian astronautics are borrowed from the navy. Historically, cosmonauts, as a rule, were recruited from Navy pilots - and some of the traditions cannot be called anything other than “naval”. Thus, for a long time it was believed that a woman on board is an unkind sign not only for a sea ship, but also for a space ship. It's funny, but after April 19, 2008, when the descent capsule of the Soyuz TMA-11 spacecraft made a “hard” landing along a ballistic trajectory and 400 km from its destination, it contained a crew of 2 women and 1 man. Speaking on this occasion, the head of Roscosmos Anatoly Perminov said, in particular: “Of course, in the future we will work to ensure that the number of women on board does not exceed the number of men.”

Today, the ritual that precedes sending into orbit begins in Star City, near Moscow, where the cosmonauts underwent lengthy training. The future crew visits a memorial dedicated to the memory of Yuri Gagarin, as well as the first cosmonauts who died during space missions - Vladimir Komarov (the flight of his Soyuz-1 spacecraft was generally full of failures, which is why the flight was terminated early; upon landing there was no the parachute system worked), as well as Georgy Dobrovolsky, Viktor Patsaev and Vladislav Volkov (when returning from orbit of the Soyuz-11 spacecraft, all three died due to depressurization of the capsule). Here, astronauts always leave flowers - always red carnations.

Then they go to Yuri Gagarin's office, which is carefully preserved in the same form in which the first cosmonaut left it, and write their words in the visitors' book. According to rumors, they also mentally appeal to the spirit of Gagarin, asking him for permission to fly. This ghost will accompany them in the future - we will meet again.

Arriving at Baikonur, the team traditionally checks into the Cosmonaut Hotel, which over the years has become so overgrown with countless superstitions and legends that if in 11 years (as planned) manned flights begin from the new Vostochny Cosmodrome, the hotel may have to be moved there. In front of its building there is an alley of trees, each of which was planted by an astronaut who returned safely from orbit. The future space crew will definitely take a walk along the alley, thereby, as it were, appealing to the souls of the astronauts and taking on a piece of their luck.

The closer the launch gets, the more sophisticated the rituals become, and the level of superstition increases. The Soyuz rocket rolls out to the launch pad 48 hours before this moment. The technicians monitoring the passage of a huge rocket on a special train place coins on the rails - also for good luck. But the ship's crew itself is strictly forbidden to observe this process - just like the groom seeing the bride in festive attire before the wedding - otherwise they will fail. But future cosmonauts are required to get a haircut on this day. This, in turn, is reminiscent of monastic tonsure: thereby the astronauts renounce everything earthly. Their life from now on is only in space.

The launch is never, ever scheduled for October 24th. This has been considered a failure since the very first years of Soviet cosmonautics. In 1960, at Baikonur, an experimental R-16 rocket exploded right on the launch pad, killing 72 (according to other sources - 125), including the commander of the Strategic Missile Forces, Marshal Mitrofan Nedelin. Three years later, it was on this occasion that a fire occurred in one of the silos where the R-9 combat missile was located; 7 people died. Since then, this date has been a “dead day” for Russian cosmonautics; no launches have been made.

Well, today, the day before the start, the team receives the blessing of an Orthodox priest and is sprinkled with holy water. The hotel always shows “White Sun of the Desert,” and cosmonauts are required to attend the show. This tradition is also connected with the tragic death of the crew of the Soyuz-11 ship: everyone was waiting for the next flight literally with bated breath, and when it went well, they took note of some of the actions that “brought good luck” to the crew. In particular, it turned out that it was “White Sun of the Desert” that the cosmonauts watched before the launch, and this became a tradition. Some time ago, before the start, the crew even took a humorous quiz on their knowledge of this film. The questions in it, however, are intended exclusively for experts - for example, “What was the name of Abdullah’s third wife?”

Finally, the most important day comes. At breakfast, the astronauts take a sip of champagne (the backup drink drinks 100 grams of technical alcohol) and leave autographs on the doors of their rooms. Their departure is accompanied by a song from the once super-popular group “Earthlings”; the song itself, however, is still popular: “Grass near the house.”

Everyone is loaded into a bus, decorated with horseshoes for good luck, and on the way to the launch pad they again listen to the “spirit of Gagarin”, whether he allows them to go into space. And so, they arrive - after getting off the bus, the whole team repeats the famous action performed by Gagarin himself before the flight: irrigating the rear right wheel. It is clear that women, if there are any in the crew, are exempt from the obligation to perform this ritual, although it is said that some of the most superstitious of them prepared a jar of urine in advance and sprinkled it from it. Some women—like the first female tourist in orbit, Anouseh Ansari—did it “mentally.” And the first Malaysian cosmonaut, Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, recalled that it took him minutes to unfasten and the same amount to fasten, but at the same time he “really liked” the execution of the tradition.

And so the crew commander gives a report to a suitable official present at the cosmodrome. He reports his readiness to carry out the mission and receives the go-ahead to board. At the same time, everyone needs to repeat Gagarin’s famous gesture - wave his hand. In return they do not say goodbye: a bad omen.

The backup team, which in the meantime was conducting training on the ship, frees up space and goes out to the journalists. There is about half an hour before the start, and the understudies must fulfill their ritual duties: drink a little to success with the journalists present. They say that the cosmonauts did not follow this tradition twice, and the launches were unsuccessful.

According to legend, this tradition was founded not by cosmonauts, but by journalists - correspondent of the Leninskaya Smena newspaper Georgy Loria and head of the Baikonur press center Yaroslav Nechesa. While present at the launch to the Mir station in March 1992, they were quite frozen and went to “warm up” at the buffet, where the backup crew of the Soyuz TM-14 crew, Anatoly Solovyov and Sergei Avdeev, unexpectedly came out. They did not refuse the offer to drink, and when they all drank, Loria, looking at his watch, remarked: “There’s still half an hour before the start.”

At the Plesetsk cosmodrome, before launching a launch vehicle, they always write “Tanya” on it - they say that this name was written on the first rocket by an officer in love with a certain Tanya. One day they forgot to write the cherished note - the rocket exploded during launch.

Well, meanwhile the landing of the main crew begins, and the astronauts have one last thing left: the talisman. Each team has its own, and its choice is the prerogative of the captain. As a rule, this is a small toy attached to a rope, and its common name is “Boris”. “Boris” is mounted in the command compartment so that it can be seen by cameras monitoring the crew during launch and entry into orbit. “Boris” is a hybrid of superstition and practical use. It serves not only as a talisman for the crew, but also as a simple “beacon” for ground services, indicating whether the ship has reached a height where the earth’s gravity is practically no longer effective: here the toy stops hanging and begins to “levitate.”

On board the orbital station, the team is also greeted traditionally - with bread and salt. Well, upon returning to Earth, the crew again performs a lot of rituals: they sign on the soot-covered shell of the descent capsule and inside the cabin of the helicopter that picked them up. A specially prepared bottle of vodka, signed by all crew members before the start, is also drunk. On the same alley in Baikonur they are planting their own trees, which will weave their voices into helping the next crews. And everything ends again in Star City, paying tribute to Yuri Gagarin, who provided such significant support to the travelers.

Extracurricular activity: Intellectual game “Space Flight”, dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the first cosmonaut Yu.A. Gagarin.

Developed by: Sh.D.Bisembekova

Class: 6th grade "B".

Lesson type: non-standard lesson - intellectual game.

Lesson duration is 45 minutes.

Target:

Formation of a scientific worldview.

Development of cognitive motivation.

Tasks:

Improving intellectual skills, broadening the horizons and erudition of students; development of intelligence, thinking and speech, attention, intelligence, curiosity, creativity students.

Fostering mutual assistance and mutual assistance; ability to make decisions in a non-standard situation under limited time.

Instilling interestto the history of the conquest of space and its development.

Continued formation of a value-based attitude towards the achievements of domestic science.

Computer techologies: Power Point program, multimedia tools

Used educational technologies and methods: ICT: presentation of the lesson progress, health elements saving technology. Methods security question, video method, explanatory and illustrative method.

PROGRESS OF EXTRA-CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES

I. Org. moment

introduction teachers

Teacher:

Everyone knows the name of our country's first cosmonaut, Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin. He turned 80 this year, but he is no longer with us. He still lives in our memory forever young and smiling! He is still the idol of millions, his smile is still inimitable, and the word “Let's go!” is known throughout the world, as is the date April 12, 1961.

I suggest you watch a unique video in which, in particular, you can hear the last pre-flight negotiations between Gagarin and Korolev. “I am the only one who wishes you a good flight!” To which the famous phrase “Let's go!” followed.

I suggest you watch a unique video.

b) Watch the video “You know what kind of guy he was!” (2-3 min)

Now you and I will make an exciting space journey. Our game is a kind of congratulations to you on this outstanding event.

Today 2 ships will take off, with two great teams on board. During the game we will find out who knows the history of space exploration better. A lot will depend on your organization, attention, and speed.

Dear participants, experts outer space! Before the game, we asked to choose 2 teams, the name of which we came up with ourselves, these are the teams: “Cedar” and “Seagull”.

The rules of the game are simple: on the presentation slide, the team captain selects the number of the letter with the question, and the team gives an answer to it after exactly 20 seconds of discussion. Teams take turns asking questions. After discussion, either the team captain or a player who is confident in the correctness of his answer has the right to answer. If the answer is incorrect, then the opposing team that raised its hand first gets the right to earn a point. The team with the most points wins. Are the terms of the game clear to experts? The progress of today's game will be monitored (presentation by the jury).

II . So we start the game. The first question chooses team …

Questions:

Story:

10. How long did the first space flight last?(108 minutes.)

20. Name an outstanding rocket designer whose name is associated with our first victories in space exploration?(Academician S.P. Korolev.)

30. Which of the scientists in our country is the founder of astronautics?

(K.E. Tsiolkovsky.)

40. Namethe name of the scientist who invented the telescope.
(Galileo)

50. What date was the beginning space age? (October 4, 1957).

10.Name the scientist-inventor of the space rocket. (K.E. Tsiolkovsky)

20. How many times has T. Musabaev been in space? (3 times: 1994, 1998, 2001).

30.What does the name “Baikonur” mean? (translated from the Kazakh language “Baikonyr” means rich valley).
40. Who was the first to suggest that the Earth is spherical? (Aristotle )

50. Cosmonautics theorist K.E. Tsiolkovsky was by profession... (teacher)

Space:

10. A group of stars is called...(constellation )

20. What color are the coldest stars? (Red)

30. Is Planet Earth approximately 4.6 billion years old? (Yes)

40. How many planets are there solar system? (8)

50. What stars does our Sun belong to?(Yellow dwarf.)

10.What does the word “cosmonautics” mean?Navigation)

20. How many satellites does the Earth have?(One )
30.Which planet’s name contains a note? Draw it on the staff.
(The note is hidden in the name of our planet: Earth.)

40.What does the word “cosmos” mean in Greek? (Order, Universe)

50. Name the brightest (after the Sun) star in our sky. (Sirius)

Cosmonauts:

10. Who was in space before man and what were the names of the first messengers?(Dogs: Laika, Belka, Arrow, Bee, Front sight, Asterisk, Chernushka, Coal, Veterok – 9.)

20. Which female astronaut was the first to go into space in 1963?(Valentina Tereshkova.)

30. Which astronaut was the first to go into outer space?(Alexey Leonov March 18, 1965)

40. What was the call sign of cosmonaut V. Tereshkova? (Gull )

50. Astronauts have customs. This is how Russian cosmonauts watch a movie before going into space. ("White Sun of the Desert" )

10. Date of flight into space by T. Aubakirov. (October 2, 1991)

20. Who was the first cosmonaut - a citizen of the Republic of Kazakhstan? (Talgat Musabaev).

20. Which Russian cosmonaut took the first photograph of the Earth (German Titov)
30.Musical question. The song “You know what kind of guy he was” is playing. Name the married couple of the poet and composer who are the authors of this song? (Poet - Nikolai Dobronravov and composer - Alexandra Pakhmutova.)

40. Who was the first space tourist?(American businessman Dennis Tito)

50. Each astronaut had his own radio call sign to communicate with the Earth.

A beautiful, sonorous, well-pronounced word is used as a call sign. Guess which of the astronauts had the following call signs:

1)Yuri Gagarin 1)Chaika

2) German Titov 2) Kedr

3) Alexey Leonov 3) Orel

4) Valentina Tereshkova 4) Almaz-2

Answer:

Yuri Gagarin - Kedr

Valentina Tereshkova - Seagull

Alexey Leonov - Almaz-2

German Titov - Eagle.

50 .Who was the first to go into outer space?Answer: Alexey Arkhipovich Leonov.

Spaceships:

10. What was the name of the ship on which Yuri Gagarin made his first flight into space on April 12, 1961? ("East")

20. How are food stored in spaceships?(In tubes.)

30. Can an astronaut use dumbbells for physical exercise?(No, because they lose weight.)

40. Based on superstition alone, what day do Russian cosmonauts not set to take off on? (Monday )

50. What is the name of the clothing that is needed for going into space?(Space suit.)

20 . What kind of pilot? spaceship was V. Tereshkova (“The Seagull”)

30. According to established traditions, it is customary for the spaceship crew to be escorted to the launch complex to a song... (Grass near the house)

40. What was the name of the Soviet reusable spacecraft?

(Buran)

50. What name was given to the Russian manned spacecraft launched on April 5, 2011 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome? (Gagarin)

Gagarin:

10. What did Yu.A. say? Gagarin at the launch of his ship? (Go!)

20. Spaceship Yu.A. Gagarin was called...(East)

30. What inscription was on Yu.A.’s helmet? Gagarin? (THE USSR)

40. What was Yu.A.’s first profession? Gagarin? (Molder-caster)

50. Which flower variety is called “Gagarin’s Smile”?(gladioli )

10. What anniversary of Yu.A. Gagarin is celebrated in 2014? (80th anniversary)

20. Name the coniferous call sign Yu.A. Gagarin? (Cedar)

30. How many revolutions around the Earth did Yu.A. Gagarin? (one)

40. Yu. A. Gagarin flew into space as a senior lieutenant, and returned...

( major )

50. How long was Yu. A. Gagarin in space? (108 minutes)

III . Trip to space distances

Our game has come to an end. Today the experts behaved with dignity, gave correct answers and successfully completed all the tasks of their amazing friends. Well done! And now let's fly into space, the Universe.

Watching a video from the American Hubble telescope, called “Beyond the Universe”...

IY .Summing up the game.

(After watching the video)

Here we are on Earth. Thank you all for participating! Is everyone feeling good?

Let's sum up the game and find out the winners.

Winners are awarded : all teams of players, the best player.

We enjoyed communicating with intellectuals from grade 6 “B”!

You, who are 12-13 years old today, will soon have to decide your life choices. It would be nice if this choice became cosmic!

I wish you all new victories!

Astronauts are considered perhaps the most superstitious people on the planet. Traditionally, they take a sprig of wormwood with them on a flight, since it retains its scent longer than other plants and reminds them of the Earth, and it is customary for the crew to be escorted to the launch complex to the song “Earth in the Porthole.”

Black Mondays and unlucky dates

The “cosmic superstitions” were started by the famous General Designer Sergei Korolev. It is reliably known that Korolev did not like starts on Mondays and always moved the date if it fell on Monday. Why - it remains so big mystery. Nevertheless, Korolev defended his point of view at the very top, and because of this, serious conflicts even flared up. Spaceships did not fly on Mondays in the Soviet Union for the first three years of the space age. Then they started flying, which caused 11 accidents. Since 1965, Monday has been considered almost an official “non-launch” day in Soviet and now Russian cosmonautics.

There are also “unlucky dates” at Baikonur. The start is never scheduled for October 24th. On this day, no serious work is carried out at the launch sites. On October 24, 1960, an R-16 ICBM launch vehicle exploded on the Baikonur launch pad, killing dozens of people. On October 24, 1963, an R-9A rocket burst into flames on the launch pad. Eight people were burned.

Happy operator

Another superstition of the famous designer was the “happy” operator who always pressed the “start” button on command, Captain Smirnitsky. Not a single rocket launch was complete without Smirnitsky. Even when he had eczema, he still pressed the button, because Korolev believed that the man had a “light hand.”

The same Korolev strictly forbade one of his designers to appear on the launch pad during the launch (once some trouble occurred while he was on duty) and personally made sure that he did not even show his nose.

Autographs

Astronauts never sign autographs before their first flight. Some people avoid signing autographs in black ink on principle. However, the entire crew must sign a bottle of vodka, which they drink on the ground, in the Kazakh steppe, after a successful flight.

Cosmonauts are also happy to leave autographs on the door of the hotel room where they spend the night before the launch. Painting over or washing away these autographs is strictly prohibited.

Woman on board

They say that because of superstitions, they were afraid to send Valentina Tereshkova into space - everyone remembered the old naval omen about a woman on a ship. But the Soviet leadership was not distinguished by superstition. In 1963, on the eve of the international conference of women in Moscow, it was a woman who was supposed to fly into space.

Themselves with a mustache

For a long time, people with mustaches were not allowed into space. During the flight of the mustachioed Viktor Zholobov there were problems, and the program had to be terminated early.

White Sun of the Desert.

Before launch, astronauts must watch “White Sun of the Desert.”

View " White sun Desert" has become a tradition as a result of the training of previous crews on filming. This film is used as a manual for training astronauts in filming. How to build a plan, how to work the camera, how to set up scenes. The astronauts know this film "more than by heart."

Other astronaut oddities

Cosmonauts will never call the launch of any spacecraft “the last”: for example, “the last launch to the Mir station...” they would prefer to call it “final”, “final”. Also, astronauts never say goodbye to those seeing them off.

At the cosmodrome in Plesetsk, before launching a launch vehicle, they must write “Tanya” on it. They say that this name was written on the first rocket by an officer in love with a certain Tanya. One day, when they forgot to write a lucky name on the body, the rocket exploded before launch.

It is a common practice for astronauts to pee on the wheel of the bus taking them to the launch pad. After this, the suit is tightly zipped up, and the next opportunity to relieve oneself will present itself only after a few hours in outer space. The ritual seems to have started from the time of Yuri Gagarin and is still maintained. Others consider the founder of this tradition to be General Designer Sergei Korolev, who always irrigated the rocket before launch.

Finally, before the launch, the astronauts receive a friendly kick from their boss.

But Russian cosmonauts and rocket scientists do not have any special superstitions associated with the 13th. Of course, few people like this number, but we definitely don’t have a “Friday the 13th” craze. But NASA doesn’t really like the 13th – there have already been unpleasant incidents. Thus, the famous lunar Apollo 13 set off for the earth’s satellite on April 11, and on April 13, an explosion occurred on board the ship - one of the oxygen tanks exploded.

Yulia Khlopina, RIA Novosti.