Day off. We asked for permission to build orbital orientation and record the Earth’s surface on the video recorder during the first daily orbit, and to use the PSN camera to shoot the twilight and nighttime horizon when entering shadow. They allowed it. We did the work and enjoyed it. Can’t think of a better rest.

In shadow I worked with the PSN. My arms got terribly tired from photographing — more than during exercise. The French instrument has large play in its gimbal. So during shooting, to eliminate jitter during long exposures of 3-5 minutes, I had to press it against the porthole. And since the needed orientation often wasn’t available, the shooting angles changed and I had to prop books under the instrument for each angle — all in the dark, under strain, for 35-40 minutes. In the evening there was a meeting with the families. For the next session, the USSR national acrobatics team came to Ostankino before departing for the world championship in England. I was honored because I’m the chairman of their federation. They addressed us very warmly and said they’d dedicate their championship victories to us too. After that they performed several pair and group routines, which we watched on television. Excellent.

This meeting was very pleasant. In the following session there was another meeting with Lyusya and Vitalik. Boris Matveyevich Zubarev — First Deputy Minister of Geology of the USSR — came with them and cheered us with his assessment of our work on their programs. Everything was fine, and Vitalka made us laugh with his question: “Dad, what do the stars look like from your end?” I say, well, almost the same as from Earth, only brighter and more of them. “Yeah, but the sky is below you, so how do the stars look from above, from your side?” Tolya and I were even caught off guard by this question and his conception of the sky as a dome with stars on it. I tell him: “Vitalik, this isn’t a planetarium — the stars are much, much farther away than you are.”

I’m now lying in the orbital module, crosswise, in my favorite position — feet braced against the opposite wall — writing my diary and resting. And Earth, I see through the porthole across from me, just keeps spinning and spinning. I leafed through my earlier entries, imagining what it would be like if someone read my diary. They’d probably be surprised by my candor about our difficult, uneven relationship during the flight. And what is this? My bias against my crewmate, or am I just that kind of person? No, it’s simply the truth, which we’re always afraid to speak without sweetening, without smoothing the sharp edges, assuming we might be misunderstood or misinterpreted.

The main thing in my relationship with Tolya is naturalness, honesty toward both the strong and weak sides of each other, while not forgetting the need to protect and shield the other — not masquerading as good comrades, but being them, with our characters and problems.

I’ve always admired in Tolya his inability — probably from a deep unwillingness — to tailor his views to others’. And his patience — it wasn’t easy for him, as for many of our comrades, to be outside the main training program for many years. I saw him when he was gloomy, irritated, but he never whined, never begged the bosses — he prepared and waited. Tolya is a very neat person; it’s pleasant to watch how he combs his hair, gathers his things, prepares for classes with focus and seriousness. He loves theater, ballet, tennis, loves walking with his children Seryozhka and Tanyusha. He has a good foundation — grew up in a village, knows people and labor, and is accustomed to it. His wife Lida is a very charming woman — a candidate of historical sciences.

I remember, I caught a cold in Star City, was lying in the clinic, and he very attentively tried to help, got my favorite wafers, made strong tea. We both love the steam bath and spend long sessions there, then blissfully relax, talking about life. In flight I always feel his attention: when he prepares food, he tries to do something nice for me, looks for the products I like, or yields the treadmill during exercise, which we both prefer to the bicycle ergometer.