REFERENCE
Tatyana Lind graduated from the Faculty of Foreign Languages of Omsk State University named after MV. FM Dostoevsky. Due to family circumstances, he moved to the United States and continued his education at graduate school in Monterey (California). When I saw a translator posting at NASA, I decided to enter the competition – and I’ve been working in the space industry for several years.
– Tatyana, what is the name of your position?
– My position is called “interpreter and interpreter” and for many years my main job – daily simultaneous translation in the console “On Earth” (Space to Earth). This is one of the consoles of the flight control room in the Space Center’s MCC. Lyndon Johnson (Johnson Space Center). Interpreters are part of the Flight Control Team, which consists of various experts responsible for their discipline: for example, navigation and guidance, planning, attitude control, medicine, power supply, life support and others. It’s headed by the flight director. From this point of view, interpreters who are “flight controllers” are responsible for their part: simultaneous translation of ISS crew conversations with their respective control centers. That is, when the American astronauts contacted Houston, all the negotiations are simultaneously translated into Russian and heard by Roscosmos specialists.
– Is there a reverse translation?
– Of course. We also translate everything Russian cosmonauts talk to their MCCs into English for the operational control group at NASA. All this is of practical importance. Both the American and Russian sides should have a full understanding of what is currently going on aboard the ISS. This approach allows you to make the right decisions very quickly in emergencies, in some difficulties, even if something incomprehensible happens – both in Star City and Houston, teams of experts are immediately engaged and advise – and this should be brought up. Attention ISS crews and mission control centers of both countries.
A space station is an orbiting science center where humans are permanently located, and here everything should be as clear as possible, because any mistake, deviation from the norm can cause the most serious consequences. Do you remember the air leak situation in the Russia segment? Then we worked as a whole team, searched and solved this problem.
In addition, my colleagues and I provide simultaneous translation of the so-called “dynamic operations”: launch, launch and rendezvous, docking of cargo and manned spacecraft, spacewalk – this is the most difficult and interesting. We joke that with our level of knowledge and education we can easily fly into orbit! There are other job assignments for interpreters, such as interpreting astronauts who come to Houston for training. That’s how I met Anna Kikina.
Anna Kikina and Tatyana Lind
From the personal archive of Tatiana Lind
– It is known that during flight preparation, our cosmonauts learned English and the Americans learned Russian. Then what are translators for?
– The level of education is completely different for everyone. Someone has been learning a foreign language since childhood, and someone started it only a year or two ago in the cosmonaut corps. For example, the same Anna Kikina began to learn the language about two years ago. But he is a very special person – versatile, responsible, hardworking. This manifests itself in many ways, including the study of language. Now I guess its level is very high. Yet spaceflight is a specific area, there are many nuances, including language, and we translators help candidates prepare for flights.
Of course, we do not have such payloads and tests, but we also calculate all possible emergencies that may occur during launch, flight and landing. And we are close during training. When it comes to technical documentation of the Falcon 9 rocket, the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft, information exchange systems, astronauts need to clearly understand what is at stake. And we help them with that. In their relations with the center’s colleagues and staff, they manage on their own. By the way, this is a very good way to improve your language level. I guess the same thing happens in Star City.
– How did NASA astronauts react to the appearance of a female cosmonaut from Russia?
Perhaps the most humble word is pleasure! Anna is truly an extraordinary person. Not many people can set a goal for themselves and go towards it, many fail to realize their dreams, this deserves all respect. He is also easy to communicate with, very friendly, has a great sense of humor. Americans know how to appreciate these qualities, and here very quickly became “his own”. There’s a slightly different approach to sex in America, so somehow they don’t pay much attention to gender here. But still Anna brought exactly what was in her nature, probably only her charm, and this conquered everyone.
It’s also somewhat coincidental that I’m Anna’s translator. My being Siberian probably played a part as well.
– Do you and Anna communicate through “you” or “you”?
We passed to “you”. Especially when they find out that he is from Novosibirsk and that I am from Omsk. Siberians always have something to talk about and that brings them together. But now, during his flight, I no longer communicate with him as often as before. Still, I’m always happy to say hello to him.
– A detachment of cosmonauts is always a special relationship, its own customs, orders. We know the customs of Russian cosmonauts – for example, watching the movie “White Sun of the Desert” before flying. Do astronauts have similar traditions?
– Certainly. But they’re private, all-American or something. For example, they come up with nicknames for each other and what’s more, from our point of view it may sound derogatory. For example, Apollo astronaut Jim Lovell had the nickname “Shakey” (i.e. “shaking”), which isn’t the most flattering word for a test pilot. But that’s in the American tradition – that’s how they joke with each other, they are not offended, they respond, and I can even be proud of my nickname.
A tradition has emerged recently in the booth in front of the pre-flight room at the Space Center. When J. Kennedy stayed to stick stickers with the emblem of the crew a few hours before launch – this is called a zap (it came from the Air Force tradition of affixing their crest to friendly aircraft). In general, they are all, of course, absolutely wonderful people – in terms of mood, dedication, readiness to fulfill their duties. But at the same time very cheerful and cheerful: jokes, jokes, jokes – this is completely in order of everything, but already everyone seems to be serious, grown-up people.
– Is there some kind of slang, jargon that only those working in the astronaut corps can understand and that might confuse you translators?
I wouldn’t say it’s slang or jargon. This is a special language. It has many things in it. There are some elements of American culture, words with different meanings, something from aviation and military. Here are a few examples: Tally ho – “attention, I see the target” (an old battle cry from foxhunt participants who reported that prey was noticed – ca. socialbites.ca) – in spaceflight, means a ship approaching the ISS hits the field camera view. “L-1day” – the day before the start. “L – start” (start) is the number of days before the start, after the minus sign. Appointment (meeting, date – approx. socialbites.ca) means the approach of ships to the station. From radio communication – “I understand you loud and clear” – “I hear you loud and clear.” “Copy” – “Accepted” – also from the radio.
Elon Musk is that joker too! Autonomous offshore platforms have very complex names because, again, there are references to American traditions and culture. “Of course I still love you” (“Of course, I still love you” is the name of an autonomous unmanned spaceport ship from SpaceX with a floating platform – approx. Newspapers. Ru) and “Just Read the Instructions” (“Just read the instructions” – another a SpaceX floating platform – approx. socialbites.ca) – these are all references to the books of science fiction writer Ian Banks.
Of course, It’s very difficult for a “man from the street” to understand what astronauts, NASA experts are doing. – even if it’s casual, non-technical conversation. I take this lightly, as I have been working as a translator for a long time. But sometimes you have to do your own “research” to figure out what the secret, the “salt,” of some kind of joke is. It’s a very interesting job and it always cheers you up.
– And astronauts communicate in the same language in orbit?
– Of course! Moreover, there is mutual enrichment. I hear how Russian cosmonauts have mastered some American jokes and special expressions, and how astronauts use Russian words in a sense appropriate to the spaceflight situation! A kind of middle language has developed and exists on the ISS, Russian-English or English-Russian, it doesn’t matter. Rather, it is a new “space” language, as it fully and accurately reflects the situation developing in orbit. It seems to me that this is a very indicative result of cooperation between the two countries, opening up prospects for creating other, for example, international teams for long-term flights to other planets. In this sense, we translators are also making history! And of course, I’m proud to have helped prepare for the flight of Anna Kikina, the first female cosmonaut to go into space on the Crew Dragon spacecraft.
Source: Gazeta
Barbara Dickson is a seasoned writer for “Social Bites”. She keeps readers informed on the latest news and trends, providing in-depth coverage and analysis on a variety of topics.