**Orbital module**

Now I was asked to create a habitation module as soon as possible.
I found this task highly interesting - an actual genuine spacecraft!
If I remember correctly, I only needed one weekend to produce a
design for a habitation module. I converted the compartment left of
the entry hatch into a servant - i.e. into a cabinet with equipment, a
desk and storage space for books and other items. The word servant
has its origins in French and is an old-fashioned term for furniture.

**LOK - Lunar Orbital Craft**

Initially I assumed that - in light of the weightlessness - defining
the ceiling and floor of the room was irrelevant. But then it became
clear that cosmonauts could be better oriented if they had a
notion of above and below, even in space. I also designed ceilings
and floors which could be differentiated on the basis of their col-
our schemes. Nevertheless, I tried to maintain the basic structure
and avoided significantly changing this. The following considera-
tions had to be taken into account: where would the cosmonauts
sleep? Where and how were they going to eat? Where was the toilet
to be positioned?

**Apollo-Soyuz**

...what most pleased me was a comment made by Alexey Arkhipovich Leonov, our Soviet Commander
of the Apollo-Soyuz mission. He informed me after the flight in
1975 that, <wrap hi>"although I very much liked the Apollo it is not as well
structured and wonderfully thought-out as the Soyuz"</wrap>.

**Mir**

The habitation module of this spacecraft was protected from the
outside world by a thick layer of equipment and apparatus. Furthermore, a number of electronic systems had to be integrated. <wrap hi>I wanted
to make the station as comfortable as possible for the cosmonauts.
Not only was access to the windows to be permitted, but nice cabins
with cosy interiors were also to be provided.</wrap> This required a vertical
structure. For a long time I was preoccupied with the plans for this
construction. I personally would have much preferred to design Mir
differently. In my opinion, a vertical construction would have been
better so that the cosmonauts would have the option of looking at
space through windows on all sides of the spacecraft. Moreover, a
vertical structure would have been much more comfortable for the
cosmonauts: one storey to provide a workspace, one storey for living quarters. However, it was decided in the end to use a horizontal
structure. There had been concern about the practical implementation of this concept. First, the area had to be reliably protected from
radiation in space; second, the assembly of the space station on earth
would be problematic since the station would then lie on one side.