Oleg Kononenko prepares for his next space flight

Hero of Turkmenistan, cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, has undergone training in remote control of the "Progress" cargo spacecraft produced by "Roscosmos." He completed tasks using the Tele-operator Control System (TORU). Kononenko has been appointed as the commander of the backup crew for the 76th expedition to the International Space Station.

Typically, cargo ships approach and dock with the station autonomously. However, considering the possibility of an automatic system failure, the crew learns to switch to manual control and dock the vessels remotely using dedicated controls. During this process, other emergencies may arise, and the crew must be capable of resolving all of them.

During the training, Oleg Kononenko practiced identifying and fixing various malfunctions. For instance, he managed to regain control of the spacecraft in scenarios such as onboard computer failure, incorrect approach of the vessels, or when the operator's display froze.

Andrey Savintsev, head of the No. 1 control laboratory at the Cosmonaut Training Center, explained how cosmonauts act if the display freezes. The operator sees the station's movement, but the digits on the screen remain static. In such a situation, the cosmonaut requests permission from experts on Earth to reboot the system. Once permission is granted, the crew enters the necessary commands, and the display is restarted. The data begins to update again, allowing the cosmonaut to continue monitoring the spacecraft's approach to the station.

It is worth noting that Oleg Kononenko was born in 1964 in the city of Chardzhou (now Turkmenabat), Turkmenistan. In 1988, he graduated from the Kharkiv Aviation Institute with a degree in aircraft engines. Kononenko made his first space flight to the International Space Station in 2008.