Again, all day working with the “Piramig” and PSN astrophysical equipment. Fascinating, unusual work. Today during a session on a celestial source, instead of the “Switch off modes” command I accidentally issued “Manual orientation” — the mode was cancelled, stopping the “Delta” system’s automated maneuver programs. What to do? Still more work on three orbits ahead. I was stunned — all day the flight program was on the brink. Especially the French program. I tell myself: “Calm down!” We make a decision and switch to stabilization from the other system — “Kaskad” — while keeping the station’s position in space unchanged relative to the stars.

When we entered the comm zone I reported what happened and our actions. I asked whether we could continue — whether the programs for the next maneuvers were still in the computer’s memory. They answered: “They are.” The ground gave us recommendations, and after that we got back on schedule. They’d actually suggested switching to manual modes. I refused, saying we’d continue with the “Delta” computer since the work plan was too intense. During one shadow pass of roughly 30 minutes, we had to work on three sources in different constellations — meaning three reorientations of the station, plus refining orientation by star tracker and sextant. And of course, each source had to be photographed with different exposures, filters, and lenses. In manual mode we obviously couldn’t have completed the whole program in one shadow pass; we’d have had to cut it. So we preserved the program, except for sources near Ursa Major and Canes Venatici. We agreed with the ground to work on those the next day.

That evening everyone was in a joyful, upbeat mood. Working on the edge of failure and finding a way out — that naturally sparks an emotional surge.

As every evening, by tradition, we sat together over dinner. Jean-Loup said: “I was amazed and admired how the crew worked, how they fought to save the experiment.” He was smiling, in excellent spirits.

We did two excellent television reports for France. In the first, we showed our station. I took the camera. Tolya and Sasha took me under the arms and “drove” me through the station from compartment to compartment. I showed everything while Jean-Loup narrated. At one point he devoted attention to our space toilet. In the next session they told us this had caused a sensation in France, as the most relatable thing. They thanked us for the “discovery.”