DA/\/\ U RUSKIS
Reuters article here:
www.reuters.com...
quote from the Reuters feed
Following decades of tradition, the crew watched a Soviet blockbuster film and took part in a quiz on it on Sunday. They were blessed by an Orthodox priest and left autographs on a hotel door before going to the launch-pad early on Monday.
Oddly the reporter left out the tradition of peeing on the bus' tires. Cosmonaut traditions are being covered up. I smell a conspiracy! ....or is that just the bus tire?
The movie they watch is not really a blockbuster by modern standards. It is however a part of the traditional routine to watch Белое Солнце Пустыни (White Sun of the Desert) before every flight.
Some sources claim that Yuri Gagarin himself started the tradition by watching this film before his first flight, but that's not correct. White Sun of the Desert was made in 1969, long after Gagarin's first flight. Now, the bus tire tradition - it does trace roots all the way back to Gagarin.
