“I feel like my body is feeling better than the first time”

“I’m fine and well”Thomas Baskett, who returned to Earth a week after spending several months in space at the International Space Station (ISS), told franceinfo on Tuesday, November 16th. “I feel like my body is feeling better than the first time.” The French astronaut is in Cologne (Germany), where the European Space Agency’s (ESA) European Space Center is located, where he undergoes battery tests to recover shape.

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Thomas Baskett also returned from Russia to destroy a satellite in orbit. The ISS crew took temporary refuge on their ships and prepared for an emergency evacuation. “One of the roles of the space station is to show that this cooperation is working, and we hope that the tension between the states will disappear and then we will be allowed to work.”, The French astronaut reacted.

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Thomas Baskett: Tensions are high at the state level. As part of a crew, we always behave well on board. Frankly, we don’t talk politics every four mornings. Politics and religion, if you will, are the subjects that work 99% of the time. You have the ingenuity to keep your ideas and beliefs private and make it work. Even if it is extended a little at the state level, there will always be good understanding within the team. Precisely one of the roles of the space station is to show that this cooperation is working, and we hope that the tension between the states will disappear and then we will be left to work.

Are you ready for an emergency evacuation in the face of this kind of danger?

Yes, this is the scene where you are getting ready for the situation where you have to go to safety. Much attention is paid to ensuring that space travel to the space station is safe for participants, for work, for equipment. When the slightest suspicion arises, we prepare for the worst event. There, the garbage cloud did not come very close to the station, but they still chose to go in the best conditions, it was the right decision. This forced them to act very quickly, but we train for that, which is part of the job.

Were you particularly concerned when you learned of the information of the four astronauts relaying aboard the ISS?

No, because we justify it very carefully. Attitude probabilities are calculated. These debris are monitored by radar from the ground, their trajectory is calculated with a few orbits in advance and this allows collisions to be expected. Within 10 km from the station, we carry out our precautionary measures. But a little further away 10 km. But it must have been a little fun for them to get to the space station and find their bearings to distract and move themselves, to start work very slowly and then not welcome an emergency like this. But that’s part of the job.

You came back to earth a week ago, how are you?

I’m fine and well. I spend more than two hours each day with someone at the gym or physiotherapist or space research center who helps me discover my scores, my earth’s body, balance, coordination, and what I lost in dealing with the space environment. It takes ten months to get 100% back, but here I am already over 90%. I feel like my body is enjoying it better than the first time [en 2016-2017]. I’m not sick.

What does the body do when it returns to Earth?

I have back muscles that remind me of their presence every day. Sitting, standing or lying down can sometimes be a little painful at first. Overall, we have a little muscle loss, bone loss, but it goes well. I’m lucky to be still young in space travel, and we’ve put in place a training program to control the negative effects. We did not measure the extent of the damage, but I have the impression that things are going well.

What has been your schedule since you returned?

It starts at 6.30am. Three things occupy me the most. Return to health, medical area, sports is a third or half a day for me. Another big area is going to be a scientific experiment guinea pig. It starts with pre-, post-work and post-work models. I repeat the same protocols I did at the station. Third theme discussions, we come back to work and share our experience.

What will be your next step?

All my colleagues and international agencies have volunteered to use the resources there to return to the moon in a somewhat sustainable way. It smashes the huge mission that awaits us in the years to come and will be Mars in a little while more. As an agency, we have an obligation to place Europe and France at the center of this project.

Why should we go back to the moon?

There is a scientific aspect, ISS that can do things on the moon that we cannot do on Earth. We are talking about standing at a distance from the moon and looking at the shallow universe without being hindered by a light source. This is something that cannot be done on earth. A costume rehearsal for the moon going to Mars. On Mars, we clearly know that we are going to search for the origin of life: how does liquid water appear on a planet and how does it disappear, and will it happen to us on Earth? Going back to the moon is going to serve as a costume rehearsal before doing it all.