Photo from the Suraevs’ family album (click to enlarge)

As a child, I wasn’t really dreaming of becoming a spaceman. I wasn’t even thinking about it. Spacemen seemed to be out of reach for me. My father had served in the air force. When he asked me what I wanted to be, I answered immediately: ‘I wanna be a pilot, of course!’

So I entered the military college in the Yeysk town and graduated with honors. Then I graduated from the Zhukovsky Air Force Academy with honors as well.

We all remember what it was like in the ’90s. At night I was driving passengers home to put some food on the table. One could buy three packs of cigarettes with a serviceman’s salary - that was it. We had to survive any way we could. I was doing extra jobs in the Academy as well. There I learned that they were recruiting people for the space crew. I thought I should give it a try. And if that didn’t work I would quit the military service and get a job…

Photo from the Suraevs’ family album (click to enlarge)

And I did it!

Generally speaking, it’s all up to one’s willingness to do it. If you really want something you’ll definitely achieve it! I mean, obviously if someone is missing an arm they wouldn’t get the job. But healthy young men should strive for such goals only! If you wanna be a spaceman, you gotta go for it!

Thanks to Maxim’s wife Anna Suraeva for providing us with photos [editorial staff]

Photo: zero gravity practice (the current crew of the Russian
ISS segment, Maxim Suraev and Roman Romanenko,
are in  the center) Click to enlarge

Via Russian space agency Roscosmos