WEBVTT 1 00:00:11.000 --> 00:00:12.480 100 kilometers above the 2 00:00:12.480 --> 00:00:15.240 Earth's surface lies an invisible frontier. 3 00:00:15.600 --> 00:00:19.040 The edge of space. 4 00:00:19.200 --> 00:00:23.000 This is the common line, the boundary between our planet's atmosphere 5 00:00:23.280 --> 00:00:25.320 and what lies beyond. 6 00:00:25.320 --> 00:01:40.640 What does it take to cross that line to? 7 00:01:42.360 --> 00:01:46.680 To date, some 450 cosmonauts, astronauts, taikonauts. 8 00:01:46.680 --> 00:01:50.160 The names all mean the same have crossed that unseen line. 9 00:01:50.920 --> 00:01:52.920 Cold War test pilots to begin with. 10 00:01:53.240 --> 00:01:57.080 Then geologists, engineers and scientists of one kind or another. 11 00:01:58.320 --> 00:01:59.360 Mission specialists. 12 00:01:59.360 --> 00:02:01.560 Now come in all sizes and nationalities. 13 00:02:02.080 --> 00:02:06.320 Even politicians and cashed up tourists have gatecrashed the space party. 14 00:02:06.920 --> 00:02:09.560 But how do you earn an astronaut's wings? 15 00:02:15.480 --> 00:02:16.440 That's Chris Hadfield. 16 00:02:16.440 --> 00:02:18.840 The first Canadian to walk in space has said 17 00:02:19.440 --> 00:02:22.720 an astronaut's life is one of preparation and simulation 18 00:02:23.000 --> 00:02:27.320 and training and support on the ground and anticipation and visualization 19 00:02:27.720 --> 00:02:30.560 and very, very seldom, almost never 20 00:02:30.880 --> 00:02:33.680 is an astronaut's life about flying in space 21 00:02:42.000 --> 00:02:50.640 for in one sense, the key to becoming an astronaut is simple 22 00:02:51.000 --> 00:03:17.840 brute force. 23 00:03:18.840 --> 00:03:23.840 But selection for space is an exhaustive process. 24 00:03:24.000 --> 00:03:25.920 Astronaut candidates must be fit, 25 00:03:25.920 --> 00:03:29.160 physically and mentally to endure the rigors of training. 26 00:03:30.040 --> 00:03:31.680 Intelligence is essential. 27 00:03:31.680 --> 00:03:34.240 While bravery is a useful character trait, 28 00:03:35.480 --> 00:03:37.880 the current crew of astronauts have trained for work 29 00:03:37.880 --> 00:03:39.800 on the International Space Station, 30 00:03:39.800 --> 00:03:42.680 while others are working towards missions yet to come. 31 00:03:43.320 --> 00:03:47.480 They have one thing in common they all consider themselves lucky. 32 00:03:48.280 --> 00:03:50.560 I never plan to become an astronaut. 33 00:03:50.600 --> 00:03:54.880 I mean, I knew that it's it's a very small likelihood. 34 00:03:54.880 --> 00:03:59.000 And so as a scientist, I knew the statistics, meaning like, okay, 35 00:03:59.000 --> 00:04:02.440 if I if I try to become an astronaut, probably won't work out. 36 00:04:02.680 --> 00:04:06.720 So for me, applying with these said, to become an astronaut 37 00:04:06.720 --> 00:04:11.360 was not as much a thing of me believing that I would become an astronaut, 38 00:04:11.600 --> 00:04:16.240 but more trying to give my dream a chance that I had the day that I knew 39 00:04:16.440 --> 00:04:17.520 I was always 40 00:04:18.720 --> 00:04:20.920 looking forward or trying to 41 00:04:20.920 --> 00:04:23.600 to see do I have a chance to actually go 42 00:04:23.600 --> 00:04:25.640 there. 43 00:04:30.840 --> 00:04:31.720 It also helps 44 00:04:31.720 --> 00:04:35.240 if you know how to use one of these. 45 00:04:36.920 --> 00:04:40.800 I think my background as a pilot very helpful just in the way that I've 46 00:04:40.800 --> 00:04:45.320 previously been taught how to follow procedures, for example, as a pilot. 47 00:04:45.720 --> 00:04:50.160 Communication methods, working together in a team and an international environment. 48 00:04:50.400 --> 00:04:52.680 All of those sort of skills are very useful in this job. 49 00:04:53.400 --> 00:04:56.520 Of course, I had expectations before I started, 50 00:04:58.120 --> 00:05:00.960 but the job is as an astronaut is is so unique, 51 00:05:00.960 --> 00:05:05.400 I think it is difficult to to have a realistic sense of of what to expect. 52 00:05:05.400 --> 00:05:08.800 So certainly some things have been what I expected. 53 00:05:08.800 --> 00:05:10.840 I mean, the excitement, the uniqueness, the 54 00:05:11.160 --> 00:05:14.280 the wonder of human spaceflight is exactly what I thought it'd be. 55 00:05:14.800 --> 00:05:15.320 Other things, 56 00:05:15.320 --> 00:05:18.920 of course, have been different simply because it's it's such a unique world. 57 00:05:18.960 --> 00:05:28.640 Trained for a mission. 58 00:05:30.720 --> 00:05:31.800 Astronaut candidates 59 00:05:31.800 --> 00:05:34.800 should expect a two year period of training and evaluation, 60 00:05:35.960 --> 00:05:37.840 learning to live and work in extreme 61 00:05:37.840 --> 00:05:39.880 environments comes right at the start. 62 00:05:40.840 --> 00:05:45.000 Movie buffs will recall Key Largo in Florida as an isolated place. 63 00:05:45.000 --> 00:05:46.440 Sir Humphrey Bogart. 64 00:05:46.440 --> 00:05:49.400 No, it houses NASA's Nemo facility, Aquarius 65 00:05:49.720 --> 00:05:53.800 training astronauts for both the ISS and future asteroid 66 00:05:53.800 --> 00:05:54.680 missions 67 00:06:16.560 --> 00:06:18.120 are very unwelcoming. 68 00:06:18.120 --> 00:06:20.800 Environments used for isolation and team building 69 00:06:21.120 --> 00:06:29.600 include the Sagrada Caves in Sardinia, Italy. 70 00:06:29.600 --> 00:06:33.600 The ESA Caves mission that I was a part of a few years ago 71 00:06:33.600 --> 00:06:38.400 where I spent a week living underneath the ground in a gigantic cave system. 72 00:06:38.640 --> 00:06:41.720 The two nascent email missions that I've been able to participate in, 73 00:06:41.880 --> 00:06:48.560 I mean, all these things are fantastic opportunities in and of themselves, 74 00:06:48.560 --> 00:06:51.280 and just having those opportunities without going to space 75 00:06:51.760 --> 00:06:53.160 would would be fantastic. 76 00:06:53.160 --> 00:06:57.120 But so to have them and then to go to space as well is it's just really it's 77 00:06:57.120 --> 00:06:59.840 what makes this job so unique and so fantastic. 78 00:07:00.480 --> 00:07:02.800 Of course, spaceflight training is not easy. 79 00:07:03.240 --> 00:07:05.400 I think that's clear. 80 00:07:05.400 --> 00:07:07.880 I mean, for a three and a half years, you have to travel 81 00:07:07.920 --> 00:07:09.360 almost every three weeks. 82 00:07:09.360 --> 00:07:12.160 You fly over the Atlantic, you're in different training locations. 83 00:07:12.160 --> 00:07:14.480 You spend about 5% of your time at home. 84 00:07:14.920 --> 00:07:17.760 And if so, maybe then just a weekend here or there. 85 00:07:17.960 --> 00:07:19.320 So it's a challenge. 86 00:07:19.320 --> 00:07:22.520 Training takes us all around the world into every center. 87 00:07:22.520 --> 00:07:25.200 And I've already done two or three orbits around the world, but just, 88 00:07:25.200 --> 00:07:29.320 you know, playing going from NASA to Russia to Japan and back to Europe. 89 00:07:30.320 --> 00:07:32.280 So it's it's already the 90 00:07:32.280 --> 00:07:36.000 training as an astronaut in itself is already rewarding. 91 00:07:36.000 --> 00:07:38.440 I mean, it's already a dream job 92 00:07:38.440 --> 00:07:41.880 and even better, it gets you to a flight in the end. 93 00:07:41.880 --> 00:07:46.560 So there's no time to to be bored and there's no time to think 94 00:07:46.560 --> 00:07:49.080 too much about what you're doing. Every day. You're busy. 95 00:07:49.080 --> 00:07:57.800 Every day is a good day that's going to continue until the flight. 96 00:07:57.800 --> 00:08:01.760 You use a letter carefully and I'll just follow you 97 00:08:02.720 --> 00:08:06.360 and we'll sit down there. 98 00:08:06.360 --> 00:08:07.560 Space training in Europe 99 00:08:07.560 --> 00:08:11.960 begins at the European Astronaut Center in Cologne, Germany, where trainees 100 00:08:12.000 --> 00:08:15.640 learn the essentials of maintenance and repair of onboard systems. 101 00:08:15.880 --> 00:08:19.480 Being asked to actually either move or clean or just inspect the filter, 102 00:08:19.880 --> 00:08:21.120 we wouldn't be too close. 103 00:08:21.120 --> 00:08:25.560 They also continue their basic EPA training in another unfriendly environment 104 00:08:25.920 --> 00:08:30.760 underwater. 105 00:08:30.760 --> 00:08:31.200 We have 106 00:08:35.560 --> 00:08:36.640 in general, the 107 00:08:36.640 --> 00:08:40.320 training at the different locations varies quite a bit. 108 00:08:40.520 --> 00:08:45.560 And first there's the technical side, which means like we're training in Japan 109 00:08:45.760 --> 00:08:49.200 on the systems that Japan's applied to the space station in Russia. 110 00:08:49.600 --> 00:08:53.240 We're trained in the Russian segment of the International Space Station in the US. 111 00:08:53.480 --> 00:08:57.480 We train for the US side and at ESA we train for Columbus and ATV, 112 00:08:57.600 --> 00:09:01.080 which are the modules that he said supplied to the space 113 00:09:01.080 --> 00:09:03.440 station. 114 00:09:07.440 --> 00:09:07.880 Next, 115 00:09:07.880 --> 00:09:11.600 the candidates move on to NASA's larger Johnson Space Flight Center 116 00:09:11.640 --> 00:09:15.240 in Houston, Texas, for extensive EVA training. 117 00:09:17.000 --> 00:09:19.880 Training at the JSC is always very busy 118 00:09:19.880 --> 00:09:23.040 because we do many different things and it's a huge facility. 119 00:09:23.040 --> 00:09:25.400 So we're moving all the time from one building to the other. 120 00:09:25.440 --> 00:09:29.240 Like here we are in the building nine where we have a replica 121 00:09:29.240 --> 00:09:32.760 of all the American modules of the space station. 122 00:09:32.760 --> 00:09:35.640 So in this building we train for the space station. 123 00:09:35.880 --> 00:09:39.080 Some of it is daily operations, some of it is actually off 124 00:09:39.080 --> 00:09:42.800 nominal operations like emergencies like in this mockup since this building 125 00:09:43.320 --> 00:09:46.680 just yesterday I did a five hour emergency simulation 126 00:09:46.680 --> 00:09:51.600 with my crewmates with our full complement of six people of Expedition 42. 127 00:09:51.800 --> 00:09:56.240 And that, of course, is not something that you would call daily operations. 128 00:09:56.240 --> 00:09:58.120 That's something that we really don't want to happen. 129 00:09:58.120 --> 00:10:01.840 But to train it a lot because emergencies would put us as crew in danger 130 00:10:02.520 --> 00:10:05.520 area each seat and one decimal. 131 00:10:05.520 --> 00:10:09.480 And the great thing about being trained on emergencies 132 00:10:09.480 --> 00:10:13.160 is that it gives you a state of mind having the knowledge. 133 00:10:13.160 --> 00:10:14.480 I mean, the training can help 134 00:10:14.480 --> 00:10:19.440 in any situation, in any condition, just like it happened to me doing my MBA. 135 00:10:19.440 --> 00:10:22.600 It was an unexpected emergency that we had not been trained for. 136 00:10:22.920 --> 00:10:26.160 But because you receive training that it's all encompassing, 137 00:10:26.400 --> 00:10:30.000 it gives you a state of mind where you look forward to the solution 138 00:10:30.000 --> 00:10:32.160 rather than focusing on the problem. 139 00:10:32.160 --> 00:10:36.240 EVAs The extravehicular activities sound routine enough, 140 00:10:36.880 --> 00:10:40.880 but spacewalks as we know them are among the most dangerous duties. 141 00:10:40.880 --> 00:10:43.080 An astronaut must carry out. 142 00:10:43.080 --> 00:10:46.120 Preparation and safety conscious planning are critical. 143 00:10:47.160 --> 00:10:48.800 Behind me, you see a lot of the shipment, 144 00:10:48.800 --> 00:10:52.560 which is related to the airlock operations in case of a spacewalk. 145 00:10:52.560 --> 00:10:54.280 So we train this here as well. 146 00:10:54.280 --> 00:10:55.400 But there's also another 147 00:10:55.400 --> 00:10:58.120 completely different facility which has been altered Buoyancy Lab. 148 00:10:58.120 --> 00:10:59.160 That's a huge pool. 149 00:10:59.160 --> 00:11:03.280 And in there we train for spacewalks under water neutral buoyancy training. 150 00:11:03.280 --> 00:11:07.960 Tanks are in place at ESA's Cologne facility and at Star City in Moscow. 151 00:11:08.280 --> 00:11:11.400 But JSC has the biggest outlay. 152 00:11:11.400 --> 00:11:13.120 BVA training is is fantastic. 153 00:11:13.120 --> 00:11:14.520 It's physically difficult. 154 00:11:14.520 --> 00:11:16.800 It's one of the most challenging parts of the training. 155 00:11:17.040 --> 00:11:19.560 I mean, it's also one of the most realistic 156 00:11:19.560 --> 00:11:22.920 when you're in the pool for 6 hours, you get tired, but at some point 157 00:11:22.920 --> 00:11:24.280 you really think you're on the SS. 158 00:11:24.280 --> 00:11:27.560 You look around you and there's a structure everywhere. 159 00:11:27.840 --> 00:11:30.960 Sometimes you even get disoriented because that's what happens in space. 160 00:11:31.320 --> 00:11:34.000 It's like a 3D labyrinth of technology. 161 00:11:34.000 --> 00:11:35.120 It's a maze of technology. 162 00:11:35.120 --> 00:11:38.640 There is so much going on here because we not only train space station, 163 00:11:38.640 --> 00:11:41.400 but a robotics space walks. 164 00:11:41.680 --> 00:11:45.840 So it's a very complex training system and it's it's 165 00:11:45.840 --> 00:11:47.760 very exciting to be part of it. 166 00:11:47.760 --> 00:11:48.960 I think one of the hardest parts 167 00:11:48.960 --> 00:11:51.960 of the astronauts job is to retain all this different information 168 00:11:52.120 --> 00:11:55.760 over the two and a half year period from being assigned to actually launching. 169 00:11:56.280 --> 00:11:59.600 Yeah, there's an awful lot of information on the Soyuz, on the space station 170 00:11:59.600 --> 00:12:03.360 itself, robotic training, EVA training, the list goes on. 171 00:12:03.600 --> 00:12:06.680 So to try and retain all that, the way that they do 172 00:12:06.680 --> 00:12:09.960 that is, is by having a refresher training really along our path to launch. 173 00:12:12.560 --> 00:12:14.720 JAXA, Japan's space agency 174 00:12:14.920 --> 00:12:18.600 trains astronauts in the operation of the country's ISIS contribution, 175 00:12:18.760 --> 00:12:23.040 the kibble experiment Module, with its space exposure platform. 176 00:12:24.160 --> 00:12:25.680 So this is phenomenal. 177 00:12:25.680 --> 00:12:27.720 I guess it has a very Japanese flavor to it. 178 00:12:27.720 --> 00:12:30.920 I mean, the content and the way the continents 179 00:12:30.920 --> 00:12:34.200 presenting and deliver it is pretty much standardized. 180 00:12:34.200 --> 00:12:37.560 But of course, you know, the instructors are Japanese, 181 00:12:37.800 --> 00:12:41.120 so they have that very it's a very kind 182 00:12:41.840 --> 00:12:44.760 Japanese, a way about them in sense. 183 00:12:44.760 --> 00:12:49.160 You bear Quebec, the Canadian Space Agency is mobile servicing system 184 00:12:49.160 --> 00:12:52.520 operations, complex schools, astronauts in using robotic 185 00:12:52.560 --> 00:12:55.080 arms on station. 186 00:12:57.040 --> 00:12:59.040 Here the station is 187 00:12:59.040 --> 00:13:04.080 cam and has a robotic arm also at scale it moves and we can plan our maneuvers. 188 00:13:04.360 --> 00:13:07.200 As you can see, the main challenge is to not hit 189 00:13:07.200 --> 00:13:08.760 anything while you're moving this arm 190 00:13:08.760 --> 00:13:11.720 because all you got really when you're working, you come here 191 00:13:12.360 --> 00:13:13.360 is this workstation. 192 00:13:13.360 --> 00:13:15.520 You got a couple of camera views to work from. 193 00:13:15.640 --> 00:13:18.800 You got your hand controllers to move the arm and you get the, 194 00:13:18.800 --> 00:13:22.360 you know, some computer displays and a bunch of switches here on the left. 195 00:13:22.720 --> 00:13:23.800 That's all you got to do. 196 00:13:23.800 --> 00:13:25.560 You got to think ahead. 197 00:13:25.560 --> 00:13:29.520 How are you going to maneuver this arm without crashing into anything? 198 00:13:29.520 --> 00:13:41.040 Because, of course, that would be a very bad day on orbit. 199 00:13:41.040 --> 00:13:45.240 Star City, near Moscow in Russia, was the birthplace of manned spaceflight. 200 00:13:45.960 --> 00:13:49.400 It remains a key training center where all is assigned 201 00:13:49.400 --> 00:13:51.720 trainee astronauts go through the program. 202 00:13:52.440 --> 00:13:56.480 When you first start in Star City, you immediately feel like you're 203 00:13:56.520 --> 00:14:00.200 you're part of something bigger than just your own personal history. 204 00:14:00.200 --> 00:14:01.920 Because your personal story. 205 00:14:01.920 --> 00:14:05.240 Because you see people who've been here since the beginning. 206 00:14:06.080 --> 00:14:09.480 There's even supposedly Yuri Gagarin, his wife is still living here, 207 00:14:09.480 --> 00:14:12.120 even though she's very old, she's still living in the vicinity. 208 00:14:12.800 --> 00:14:16.560 So you just cross people in the corridor and have known all those guys. 209 00:14:16.560 --> 00:14:20.160 And I was just a kid and those guys were already in human spaceflight. 210 00:14:20.440 --> 00:14:23.160 So you try to learn as much as you can. 211 00:14:23.160 --> 00:14:24.080 You try to 212 00:14:25.160 --> 00:14:27.440 do your best for the technical side of the job 213 00:14:27.440 --> 00:14:30.120 and try to interact as much as possible with the people 214 00:14:30.120 --> 00:14:32.640 because they're so experienced that they have a lot to give you. 215 00:14:33.680 --> 00:14:36.840 Expecting the unexpected is a basic training principle 216 00:14:37.200 --> 00:14:40.640 like landing, of course, after the mission or touching 217 00:14:40.680 --> 00:15:00.800 down in the Siberian tundra. 218 00:15:00.800 --> 00:15:03.000 The radiation 219 00:15:13.200 --> 00:15:15.960 has NASA has no man flight hardware of its own. 220 00:15:15.960 --> 00:15:20.120 At present, the agency purchases seats on Russia's Soyuz spacecraft. 221 00:15:21.000 --> 00:15:23.760 All astronauts must be trained on the Soyuz systems, 222 00:15:24.120 --> 00:15:26.280 which poses a problem of its own. 223 00:15:26.280 --> 00:15:30.240 Everything is, of course, in Russian. 224 00:15:30.240 --> 00:15:33.240 All the documentation is in Russian, in the Soyuz spacecraft, 225 00:15:33.240 --> 00:15:36.720 and of course, all the conversations in Russian as well, which is the reason 226 00:15:36.720 --> 00:15:40.800 for us having all of the Russian lessons during our training flow. 227 00:15:40.800 --> 00:15:43.120 Not only must you know the Russian language 228 00:15:43.120 --> 00:15:47.160 when in Russian spacecraft you must also wear Russian spacesuits. 229 00:15:58.120 --> 00:16:01.040 When the subtle space suit actually pressurizes, 230 00:16:01.320 --> 00:16:02.280 things do become much 231 00:16:02.280 --> 00:16:06.560 more difficult to work because you're kind of fixed in your seat 232 00:16:06.560 --> 00:16:10.640 in a very rigid location, and it's hard to bend your arms and bend your fingers. 233 00:16:10.640 --> 00:16:11.200 In fact, 234 00:16:11.200 --> 00:16:15.000 so even just sort of reading the board documentation can be quite difficult, 235 00:16:15.280 --> 00:16:19.280 but hopefully you won't be pressurized when you do a normal descent. 236 00:16:19.280 --> 00:16:22.240 Hopefully the the spacecraft will come down without any problems 237 00:16:22.240 --> 00:16:25.400 and your spacesuit will be much softer, which makes it easier to move. 238 00:16:26.400 --> 00:16:27.600 Here in Star City. 239 00:16:27.600 --> 00:16:30.840 I'm using most of my time in the Soyuz simulator together with my commander. 240 00:16:31.360 --> 00:16:33.520 Suddenly it's starting to feel a lot more real. 241 00:16:33.600 --> 00:16:33.880 You know, 242 00:16:33.880 --> 00:16:37.120 when you're sitting in the Soyuz and you're really going through the whole. 243 00:16:37.120 --> 00:16:37.520 Launch. 244 00:16:37.520 --> 00:16:40.800 And landing sequence, you can feel that you're you're getting close to the date. 245 00:16:40.800 --> 00:16:42.120 And it's very, very exciting. 246 00:16:42.120 --> 00:16:45.480 It's a very well-oiled machine, this this flow to launch. 247 00:16:45.720 --> 00:16:47.160 And I'm confident that, 248 00:16:47.160 --> 00:16:50.520 you know, by the time every astronaut flies, you're really ready to go. 249 00:16:50.520 --> 00:16:51.840 You're prepared in every way. 250 00:16:53.320 --> 00:16:53.800 That's things 251 00:16:53.800 --> 00:16:57.680 stand an astronaut bone for a six month mission to the ISS. 252 00:16:57.960 --> 00:17:02.440 He's up to five years training, a requirement which will in all likelihood 253 00:17:02.440 --> 00:17:05.760 be intensified for future missions to deep space. 254 00:17:06.680 --> 00:17:10.040 The ISIS will probably be used as a long duration astronaut 255 00:17:10.040 --> 00:17:23.680 training facility for missions to Mars and beyond. 256 00:17:23.680 --> 00:17:29.160 We are also all people that are selected to be able to get along with each other. 257 00:17:29.600 --> 00:17:33.240 That's kind of like the way you select astronauts nowadays for nowadays, 258 00:17:33.240 --> 00:17:34.760 for long duration space flights. 259 00:17:34.760 --> 00:17:36.760 You really want to have people that are being on 260 00:17:36.800 --> 00:17:40.480 so that are easy to get along with other people. 261 00:17:40.480 --> 00:17:43.520 So much of our work out there is determined 262 00:17:43.520 --> 00:17:47.960 by the visiting vehicle traffic and that's a very dynamic phase 263 00:17:48.160 --> 00:17:51.560 because we're not quite sure exactly which vehicles are going to arrive. 264 00:17:51.560 --> 00:17:57.320 When I got to 18 centimeters and these vehicles bring up a lot of science, 265 00:17:57.520 --> 00:18:02.200 they bring up a lot of hardware that is determines when the EVAs are done. 266 00:18:02.640 --> 00:18:03.680 And also they of course 267 00:18:03.680 --> 00:18:06.680 determine the robotics activity that goes on to capture the vehicles. 268 00:18:06.960 --> 00:18:10.080 So when you're not quite sure what the visiting vehicle 269 00:18:10.080 --> 00:18:13.880 schedule is like, you're not quite sure exactly what science 270 00:18:13.880 --> 00:18:18.840 and when it's going to be done on board the space station. 271 00:18:18.840 --> 00:18:23.200 One six months increment for the whole crew is around 300 experiments, 272 00:18:23.760 --> 00:18:27.480 out of which there's 5564 for ESA. 273 00:18:27.480 --> 00:18:32.840 So there's a wide array of of domains like medicine, technology, 274 00:18:33.760 --> 00:18:37.600 materials, science, fluid science, everything you can think of. 275 00:18:37.600 --> 00:18:41.680 We're trying to make the most of the conditions in space and the 276 00:18:41.960 --> 00:18:45.560 and the microgravity to to get results that wouldn't be possible 277 00:18:46.160 --> 00:18:47.520 to achieve on Earth. 278 00:18:47.520 --> 00:18:50.560 So one of the things I've learned is you just have to be extremely flexible 279 00:18:50.800 --> 00:18:55.040 and we get trained on how to do tasks that that may be planned 280 00:18:55.080 --> 00:18:59.080 six months ahead of our mission and maybe planned six months after our mission. 281 00:18:59.360 --> 00:19:02.680 So that should that be some flex and those activities fall 282 00:19:02.680 --> 00:19:07.320 within our increment, then we're trained and we're ready to do those as well. 283 00:19:07.320 --> 00:19:10.280 There's leftover smell. 284 00:19:10.280 --> 00:19:11.040 I guess. 285 00:19:11.120 --> 00:19:14.760 Not good. 286 00:19:14.760 --> 00:19:17.840 Looking out of the window is really one of the most 287 00:19:17.840 --> 00:19:21.480 fantastic experiences that you can have from the International Space Station. 288 00:19:22.000 --> 00:19:24.120 Our earth is so beautiful. 289 00:19:24.120 --> 00:19:26.200 And yet when you look outside, you see that 290 00:19:26.240 --> 00:19:29.840 the atmosphere that surrounds our earth is so thin. 291 00:19:30.080 --> 00:19:33.200 It's merely like an actual around an egg. 292 00:19:33.200 --> 00:19:34.680 It's so fragile. 293 00:19:34.680 --> 00:19:36.840 And the vulnerability, 294 00:19:36.840 --> 00:19:41.120 the fragility of our planet is very, very visible from on Earth. 295 00:19:41.280 --> 00:19:44.640 You see this blue ball and then above nothing, just black, 296 00:19:44.640 --> 00:19:47.760 absolutely nothing in this immense universe. 297 00:19:48.040 --> 00:19:51.720 And I would hope that more people would be able to fly to space more. 298 00:19:51.720 --> 00:19:54.480 Maybe of our politicians, decision makers. 299 00:19:54.800 --> 00:19:57.040 Decision makers wouldn't be able to fly to space 300 00:19:57.360 --> 00:19:59.840 and really see the vulnerability of our planet 301 00:20:00.040 --> 00:20:03.200 so that we can finally start doing something about climate 302 00:20:03.200 --> 00:20:13.960 change. But 303 00:20:15.360 --> 00:20:17.880 even so, 304 00:20:18.880 --> 00:20:21.720 the way it installs this, this seems to me in. 305 00:20:21.720 --> 00:20:24.240 The flash 306 00:20:27.080 --> 00:20:30.120 block to get to the. 307 00:20:30.560 --> 00:20:32.240 We're just so prepared. 308 00:20:32.240 --> 00:20:35.960 All the emergencies, all the possible failures, we train them over and over 309 00:20:35.960 --> 00:20:36.880 and over again. 310 00:20:36.880 --> 00:20:40.440 So we're supposed to be able to handle any situation 311 00:20:40.800 --> 00:20:43.600 we set in the simulator hundreds of hours. 312 00:20:44.120 --> 00:20:46.200 We know the systems inside out. 313 00:20:46.200 --> 00:20:47.880 So there's nothing really that we fear. 314 00:20:47.880 --> 00:20:53.840 I think on the technical side. 315 00:20:53.840 --> 00:20:55.720 Even with all that training, 316 00:20:55.720 --> 00:20:58.920 astronauts are well aware of the dangers of spaceflight 317 00:20:59.760 --> 00:21:04.680 writing a rocket full of explosive fuel, living in an enclosed environment 318 00:21:04.680 --> 00:21:07.840 with a thin sheet of aluminum between you and a hard vacuum. 319 00:21:08.280 --> 00:21:10.840 Solar and cosmic radiation, bullet 320 00:21:10.840 --> 00:21:13.600 like micrometeorites and space debris. 321 00:21:14.400 --> 00:21:17.680 Then there is the threat of onboard fire or mechanical failure. 322 00:21:18.000 --> 00:21:21.600 And to cap it all off the fiery return to Earth. 323 00:21:22.800 --> 00:21:23.240 There is, 324 00:21:23.240 --> 00:21:26.960 however, one problem that returning astronauts cannot avoid, 325 00:21:27.240 --> 00:21:30.120 and that's gravity. 326 00:21:33.840 --> 00:21:34.800 When you get back home. 327 00:21:34.800 --> 00:21:38.960 Of course, I will always remember this was the same for my first flight 328 00:21:39.040 --> 00:21:42.520 for my second flight, the moment they opened up the hatch and you feel this 329 00:21:42.520 --> 00:21:46.560 fresh cold air coming into your capsule, this is really something. 330 00:21:46.560 --> 00:21:48.240 And you're out there, of course, in the steppe. 331 00:21:48.240 --> 00:21:52.080 You have this real soiled kind of smell that you have. 332 00:21:52.080 --> 00:21:54.240 It's it's really feeling fantastic. 333 00:21:54.240 --> 00:21:55.960 And then they got you out of the capsule. 334 00:21:55.960 --> 00:21:57.640 And the first thing, of course, that you want to do 335 00:21:57.640 --> 00:22:00.280 is to contact your family, your friends. I'm all right. 336 00:22:00.280 --> 00:22:01.440 Everything is great. 337 00:22:01.440 --> 00:22:03.280 We will see each other tonight. 338 00:22:03.280 --> 00:22:06.480 And then you just want to rest and to sleep because you're so tired. 339 00:22:06.480 --> 00:22:09.080 Of course, from this long day of coming back. 340 00:22:09.080 --> 00:22:12.960 And also the gravity is really then having an impact on your body. 341 00:22:13.160 --> 00:22:15.120 You can't it's difficult to stand up. 342 00:22:15.120 --> 00:22:17.280 It's everything that you have to lift is hard. 343 00:22:17.960 --> 00:22:18.840 It's difficult. 344 00:22:18.840 --> 00:22:20.400 And this takes a couple of days. 345 00:22:20.400 --> 00:22:22.800 But after a couple of days, of course, you recover. 346 00:22:22.800 --> 00:22:28.240 Well, we have a very good recovery program here at our European Astronaut Center, 347 00:22:28.240 --> 00:22:31.800 our people are really very focused on getting the astronaut back 348 00:22:32.040 --> 00:22:35.480 up to the level as he was before the flight as soon as possible. 349 00:22:35.760 --> 00:22:38.920 And then, of course, again, after a while, business as usual. 350 00:22:39.440 --> 00:22:44.040 I'm reaching the end of my career and and being able to to do it last flight 351 00:22:44.040 --> 00:22:49.360 and really again put out work for myself but also for everybody else. 352 00:22:49.360 --> 00:22:51.880 All the knowledge and knowhow that I have acquired during this year. 353 00:22:52.120 --> 00:22:55.520 It's a very great opportunity and and I'm really happy 354 00:22:56.400 --> 00:23:03.960 that I've been assigned for this. 355 00:23:03.960 --> 00:23:07.760 There is another way of crossing that unseen line on the edge of space 356 00:23:08.400 --> 00:23:11.200 by paying your own way as the ultimate tourist. 357 00:23:12.280 --> 00:23:14.880 A number of wealthy individuals have already done so. 358 00:23:15.600 --> 00:23:19.120 Soon enough, it will become cheaper and accessible to the ordinary, 359 00:23:19.120 --> 00:23:23.120 mortal, provided he or she can pass the medical. 360 00:23:24.840 --> 00:23:29.000 You know, when when our test pilots and and wonderful team 361 00:23:29.000 --> 00:23:34.240 that run Virgin Galactic say that it's we're ready and ready to go, then, 362 00:23:34.840 --> 00:23:38.960 you know, be ready to climb in and, you know, be the, you know, the first 363 00:23:39.560 --> 00:23:44.080 the first passenger, as such, you know, to go to space and to become an astronaut. 364 00:23:44.920 --> 00:23:47.640 And from there, hopefully, thousands of people 365 00:23:47.640 --> 00:23:48.800 will follow me 366 00:24:09.280 --> 00:24:30.120 here.