A tough day, three experiment zones. I think I made a blunder — only switched the spectral equipment from calibration mode to measurement mode at the end of the work. This should have ruined the experiment, but the ground confirmed everything went normally. Puzzling. I’ve been sleeping badly. The fatigue, unlike before, doesn’t take hold — I’m constantly keyed up.

I’ve started looking at the Far East more. At first I spent a week carefully studying the region on different orbits, matching it against maps, finding characteristic landmarks, tying them to areas of interest near BAM, the ocean coast, and only then did I begin systematic study per the visual observation program.

I feel bad about the spectral equipment — I still think the experiment was ruined by my fault. Today Tolya and I discussed whether improvisation is necessary in space or not. I believe improvisation is necessary because an experiment must be adjusted depending on actual conditions — orientation modes, equipment composition, crew interaction with the ground, the volume of data being recorded.

This discussion arose because our instructor came on comm and advised us to “improvise” less, since we sometimes make individual errors, and these are all logged on the ground. And work will be judged not by how much you did and what, but by the number of errors. He doesn’t realize that we often improvise not from luxury but because the ground couldn’t or failed to prepare or foresee everything in time.

I’d like to say that the station isn’t an airplane and isn’t the early spacecraft flights. Here, on the station, life and production are already underway with all their complexities and relationships, whose laws operate just as on Earth, though in many ways differently too. It’s not at all simple to rise above your own interests, but it must be done — lift your head and look around to see and realize that you’re a participant in one great endeavor.

Our attitude toward each other on the crew is built on just one thing — our attitude toward the work. And what does attitude toward work mean? It means the one who understands it better, who strives to do more, takes it upon himself. I think this will define future relationships between people, when many problems of mere habitation recede into the background. What remains is work, knowledge, dedication to the task. This won’t eliminate problems — human tragedies, worries, successes, and failures will persist — but it will all be built on a higher level of service to society.