| by Mark C. Anderson

News Stories

Lind, Tatiana
Tatiana Lind MATI ‘08 (on left) serves as interpreter for Russian astronauts on the International Space Station, a collaboration between 15 different countries. 

There’s a paradoxical quality  about interpreting for astronauts—it’s both not as big a deal as some people think and, in other ways, a much bigger deal.

Translation and interpretation alum Tatiana Lind ‘08 admits she didn’t know a lot about the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as a graduate student.

“I knew nothing besides that it does something in space,” she says.

Then a NASA contractor visited the Middlebury Institute campus in Monterey looking for language pros and Lind aced their tests. 

Flash forward a few years and Lind is a veteran Russian interpreter on the flight control team at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, where human spaceflight training, research, and flight control are the primary activities. (See her in the background at a prelaunch press conference in 2023.)

That means she now knows not only a wealth of technical intel and terminology—involving everything from navigation to power supply systems to life support—but also insider slang like “going LOAC,” which is shorthand for “loss of attitude control.” 

“NASA has its own language, so there’s a lot you have to learn and memorize,” she says. “But as challenging as the technical understanding sounds, it’s relatively straightforward and logical once you learn it.”

The International Space Station is probably the last outpost in U.S.-Russian relations. This is the most remarkable achievement of the program—not something technical or the conducting of any experiments, but individuals and cultures working together for larger benefit.
— Tatiana Lind, MATI ‘08

Her duties include simultaneously interpreting what Russian cosmonauts on the International Space Station (ISS) communicate to the operational control group at NASA and vice versa. The ISS is the largest space station ever assembled and is maintained in low Earth orbit by a collaboration of 15 different countries, including both the U.S. and Russia. It has been continuously occupied since November 2000 and serves as a factory, observatory, and laboratory.

“Sometimes, especially in a technical field like aerospace, we’re performing a small role, a little piece in a huge machine, but there will be days when our performance has ultimate consequences,” she says. “Looking at things from that perspective, it’s an inspiration to be the best, whatever you do.”

A Star in Siberia

For her family back home in Siberia, and her community at Dostoevsky Omsk State University where she studied foreign language as an undergrad, it’s almost too much to comprehend. 

“My mom, especially, and my family, and my university are all very happy and proud of me,” says Lind, whose unusual career has landed her in the pages of Russia’s biggest newspapers, “but they exaggerate my achievements.”

To be fair, her achievements are pretty cool. Having a front row seat to things like spacewalks and spaceships docking with the International Space Station would be something. When your front row position also involves interpreting, in real time, the precise language of the Russian and American astronauts—while they’re, say, sitting on top of a rocket blasting off for space—it’s something else. 

Lind notes how far her native Omsk is from a place like Monterey or her current home in Texas. 

“It’s as far as you can get from the ocean, equidistant from the closest shore,” she says. “So-o-o deep in Siberia.”

Her Siberian heritage has fueled her career in a couple of ways. Being from a remote place increased her curiosity about the rest of the world. It also became a point of commonality when she was assigned interpretation duties for engineer and cosmonaut Anna Kikina—Russia’s only active female cosmonaut. It turns out the pair grew up a train ride apart. 

“She did test me—Are you a true Siberian?—with words that are specific to the region,” Lind says. “There aren’t many of us, and in my experience, we’re friendly, simple, tough, definitely independent, and very resilient.”

Russian woman astronaut and Tatiana Lind
Tatiana Lind MATI ‘08 (center) serves as interpreter for Anna Kikina, Russia’s only active female cosmonaut (left of Lind). Lind was honored by the astronauts for her professional excellence and commitment to the mission.

Diplomacy in Space

She says that bridging cultural gaps proves more difficult than any fast-paced aeronautical translation and is also where the bigger stakes come in. While the crew may focus on interstellar exploration, relations can be impacted by geopolitical tensions back on earth. 

“The International Space Station is probably the last outpost in U.S.-Russian relations,” she says. “This is the most remarkable achievement of the program—not something technical or the conducting of any experiments, but individuals and cultures working together for larger benefit. For me that’s one of the greatest motivators: unfortunately or fortunately, this is more or less the last frontier.”

“But I believe we’re fundamentally more similar than different, and it’s fascinating to explore that through language.”

Interpreters with astronauts
Interpreter Tatiana Lind MATI ‘08 (on left) stands with ISS astronauts and their respective interpreters.