posted 10-26-2003 10:29 AM               

Dr. Yaroslav Pustovyi was the alternate Ukraine payload specialist for Columbia mission STS-87, a 1997 flight which carried the fourth United States Microgravity Laboratory mission as well as the
Collaborative Ukrainian Experiment, developed by the National Space Agency of Ukraine (NASU). Leonid Kadenyuk, who flew that mission, became the first Ukraine in space.

He did parallel studies of the experiments on Earth, and is now a member of the Canadian Arrow team, one of several competing for the X-Prize, a $10 million award to the first organization that sends and returns a crew 100 kilometers (62 miles, the internationally recognized boundary of space) safely twice in two
weeks in the same vehicle. Announced in 1996, teams have until January 2005 to claim the prize.

Dr. Pustovyi was chosen as one of six Canadian Arrow astronauts in June 2003. The team hopes to send two astronauts on each of the two X-Prize flights it makes, with the other two trained as a backup crew.

Dr. Pustovyi was kind enough to respond to some questions by e-mail.

What do you do as part of the Canadian Arrow team? What do you hope to accomplish? Why choose the Arrow team rather than any other X-Prize team?

“We all in Canadian Arrow are focused on bringing our project to success and each one of us has specific responsibilities. On this stage of the project, my role, as well as of other Canadian Arrow astronauts,
is to actively participate in vehicle development, especially of its crew cabin. Like aircraft test pilots, we are supposed not only to fly the vehicle, but first of all to be a part of the design team.

“Speaking about what we hope to accomplish, our ultimate goal is far beyond the X-Prize itself. We work to make suborbital spaceflights accessible to general public. This is why I think that Canadian Arrow is more than just a racing team and I am really
proud that I can contribute my experience and dedication to project's success.”

Have you always had a desire to be an astronaut? If so, when did this first manifest itself?

“The first time I realized that I would like to fly in space was while studying at the [Mozhayskiy Space Engineering] military academy, but it became more real only with the STS-87 program.” Pustovyi has previously
stated that, “I asked Kadenyuk what the Earth looks like, and he replied that it is round. But I am a skeptic, a scientist. I want to see this for myself,” alluding to his dream of flying into space.

What did you most get out of your training with NASA and NASU? What message would you give a child who wanted to be an astronaut?

“From my spaceflight training, the most valuable experience is an outstanding teamwork. Rockets and astronauts fly above all due to thousands of specialists contributing to the mission, not just
thanks to technological advances. That's why I believe that the first step in any high-tech project or venture is building a team of dedicated people.

“In the past there was a lot of unnecessary and mythological mystery about the profession of astronaut. Among kids, almost everyone wanted to be an astronaut, but few kept trying to make it in adult age, because of the perception that it is impossible and therefore not worth trying.

“My message is straight – if you seriously decide to become an astronaut, just keep trying. As Alfred Tennyson wrote, ‘To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.’ Remember - nothing is impossible.”

Do you keep in touch with the other Ukraine astronauts (Nadiya Adamchuk, Leonid Kadenyuk, and Vyacheslav Meytarchan)? If so, what are they doing lately?

“Leonid Kadenyuk serves as a Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian Parliament) member, Nadiya Adamchuk-Chala is continuing scientific research in the area of space plant biology, and Vyacheslav Meytarchan is pursuing personal business interests. I meet them time to time, but not on regular basis.”

Do you know of any plans for Ukraine to fly you or any of the other astronauts to space?

“The closest possibility a Ukrainian astronaut will fly in space under
a governmental program will emerge is if Ukraine would join the International Space Station project. Right now NSAU is considering such a possibility, but there
are no specific date or mission yet.” As he told a group of children after the STS-87 mission, “Ukraine and the cosmos have always been connected,” citing Mykola Kybalchych, who developed the idea of jet
propulsion; Sergei Korolov, the father of Soviet manned spaceflight; and Pavel Popovich, the fourth cosmonaut to orbit the Earth.

What do you feel is the future of Ukraine with regards to its space program? What do you hope NASU accomplishes?

“I believe that any nation has no future as a technologically developed power if it is not concerned with space applications, research and exploration. I also hope that our agency will continue its efforts
towards participation in the international manned spaceflight ventures like ISS and beyond this project.”