We assembled “Piramig,” the PSN, and reviewed the bath assembly diagram. Slept well but woke up at 6 AM. The body takes its toll — such weakness that I even felt melancholy.

After lunch we loaded a test session called “Samrentgen” into the “Delta” computer system — pointing the station’s X-ray complex at a designated source — but the session didn’t run for an unknown reason.

My neck has ached since morning; during the day I lay down for an hour’s nap, which perked me up. We’re waiting to hear what the ground says about the test. On the station, whatever you’re busy with, you’re always thinking about something, turning things over in your memory, reliving old experiences, and sometimes suddenly a kind of revelation comes — a clarity of understanding about a completely unexpected problem. This can happen at any time — day or night, even during moments of intense work.

These are pleasant moments, and I tried not to let them slip away but to record them quickly. Later, in my free time or lying in my sleeping bag before bed, I tried to understand what caused it. Apparently, on Earth our thoughts are too cluttered with petty concerns, various problems, and agitated by emotions.

On the station, you’re entirely absorbed in work, while the enormous burden tied to life in society has stayed down there, below. Our world has shrunk to just the two of us, where we’re both in equal conditions, provided with everything, and have no goals other than work. Here there’s space for thoughts sown on Earth.

And just now I thought about how a person tailors the world to fit what he understands and, without realizing it, already resists the new — even though he considers himself progressive.