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First European Commander of the ISS
RobGoldsmith writes 'ESA astronaut Frank De Winne became the first European commander of the International Space Station this morning with the departure of Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka who had filled this role since April. De Winne is the first non-American and non-Russian to take on this role. Watch the videos and view images here.'
...to welcome our European overlords.
I'm a writer, a poet, a genius, I know it. I don't buy software, I grow it.
isn't part of Europe?
-- Alastair
A Belgian is now commander of the ISS and president of the IOC... and next year probably chairman of the UN Security Council :-)
What does being commander entail?
In an emergency I suppose someone would be responsible for barking orders.
But realistically everyone up there, (now that the Cirque du Soleil clown is gone) are professionals and scientific types, and virtually all work schedules are managed by ground support teams.
Commanders in such a working environment generally are cajolers rather than of commanders anyway, but with the working environment I can't see them having much real need of a commander on a day to day basis, other than to lobby ground controllers for workload changes, or more snacks in the next cargo ship.
I suppose if they are still bickering over who gets to use which toilet they might have selected the Euro guy to take the edge off the situation.
Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
A major gripe in the Russian psyche is that they are 'left out' of Europe despite the fact that the majority of their population is in what is geographically defined as Europe. Way to go and snub them.
Isn't thata great? He is full of De Winne!
He received a Masters degree in telecommunications and civil engineering from the Royal Military Academy, Brussels, in 1984.
I have this image of him building the rest of the station with concrete. The slump test may not work so well in orbit.
It's NOT me! It's the meds! I'm on 1000mg of Fukitol.
Have you even been to Europe? Of course we consider Russians Europeans! There is no doubt about that! People from the Soviet Republics however are a different matter, and even within the present Russian Federation there are many ethnic peoples!
We sometimes make the distinction because they are so large and have gone through a tough time lately (from Soviet times to Putin). Imperial Russia was at the heart of Europe, and only the Soviet era changed that. St Petersburg was the crown of Russias European identity!
Slavs are Europeans no matter what country in Europe they come from. Slavs are not limited to Russia you know, from Serbia to Russia Eastern Europe is full of Slavic people(s).
I'm a European, specifically a Scandinavian, and we absolutely see Russians as Europeans.
I didn't check my tags above. Oh well. It's past my bed time....
It's NOT me! It's the meds! I'm on 1000mg of Fukitol.
There is an old Russian joke that goes like this:
A guy dies and ends up in hell. Before his punishment is due, he's shown around to know what is awaiting for him. At one moment, he and his demonic guide pass by three large foul-smelling pits full of dung.
One pit is bustling with activity - people climb out there every minute or so in large groups, and there are several demons with pitchforks running around the pit pushing the climbers down. The demons are sweaty and obviously tired.
The second pit is mostly quiet, but occasionally a single guy pokes his head outside, and immediately gets pushed down by a young lone demon, who is otherwise standing there yawning.
The third pit is absolutely quiet. There is a very old demon with chipped horns lying near the edge snoring and cuddling his pitchfork in the sleep. However, no-one climbs out of the pit.
The guy looks at all this for some time, and then asks what it is all about. His guide explains:
"The first pit is for Jews. They always stick together and help each other, and as soon as one climbs one step above the others, he stops and helps them get up to his level.
The second pit is for Europeans. They're hardworking, but individualist and way too proud of themselves, so they all climb alone, each on his own.
The third pit is for Russians. As soon as one of them climbs even a little bit higher than the rest, those below him pull him down by the legs into the dung so that he knows his place."
The ESA is not a part of the European Union and includes member nations outside of the EU and even Europe! Norway and Switzerland are members of ESA but not the EU. And Canada is a member but is not a European country!
The European Space Agency (ESA), established in 1975, is an intergovernmental organisation dedicated to the exploration of space, currently with 18 member states.
Something happens on the space station and for some reason the station cant communicate with earth...whos in charge?
The station commander.
In an emergency he would make certain decisions such abandon the station or stay put.
While ground controllers can give direction, you always want to have someone on site who can actually
act on those directions and tell people what to do. A station commander is not for things you expect, its for the things
you dont expect.
There are 23 official languages in the EU. And many more in Europe [wikipedia.org].
Interestingly the article lists Russian as one of those European languages so either this should be the second European commander or the first commander from the EU.
His name is Frank de Winne, without the capital D. The D is only capitalized when his first name isn't written. So it's commander De Winne, or commander Frank de Winne.
Then again, I guess it's already impressive you guys put a space between "de" and "Winne".
Pretty good is actually pretty bad.
Russians are NOT related to us Scandinavians in ANY way. Russians are Slavs, Scandinavians are Germanic people(s).
I doubt you Americans think of Scandinavia as part of North America? Did you not understand I was a non-Russian, Scandinavian? It says so clearly at the end of my message.
The last Czar did indeed have some Danish blood, that does not make the country, people or history Scandinavian. Unless you think the US is now part of Kenya due to Obama?