1.   As they headed out into space on Thursday, the cosmonauts said they found a white residue, like powder or salt, on the edge of the hatch.

2.   The cosmonaut said the space station crew had to pull open the Soyuz hatch.

3.   The cosmonauts said they failed to open it with a handle they had and suggested they try again next time with a screwdriver.

4.   The cosmonauts said they placed the icons near a picture of Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space, Interfax added.

5.   The two cosmonauts said they had remained on board the space station during three crises even though flight manuals told them to abandon ship.

6.   Viehboeck also noticed that when the cosmonauts said goodbye to their instructors, no one shook hands.