Space: Thomas Baskett broke a new record

A French astronaut has never spent so much time in space! Thomas Pesket, the triangular record holder in terms of space orbit since Sunday, has accumulated a total of 26 hours and 15 minutes clockwise. A 19-year-old record was kept by French astronaut Philippe Perrin during his only voyage aboard the International Space Station (ISS) in 2002. He then spent three hours totaling 19 hours and 31 minutes in the company of American astronaut Franklin Chang-Diaz.

Thomas Peskett embarked on the fourth additional vehicle journey (EVA) of his career this Sunday, the second time since Wednesday that it could only be partially accomplished due to a series of technical incidents. In 6 hours and 28 minutes, tricolor astronaut and his American teammate Shane Kimberly completed the installation of the first latest-generation solar panel connected by two cables to a space station 400 kilometers from Earth. Two “dynamics” then began to establish a second. A total of six, these solar panels, known as Eurosa, will increase the power generation capacity of the ISS.

Philip Perrin, however, has two other records. Starting in the longest space for a Frenchman, it was still 7 hours 17 minutes. During his Wednesday, Thomas Basket almost fired him … within two minutes. Following a problem with the data transfer to check the status of the suit, his teammate Shane Kimbero had to be reset back to the station plane before leaving. Meanwhile, the Frenchman was waiting for him, hanging by the legs with a robot arm. Eventually the task resumed, but a precious hour was lost. It only “lasted” 7 hours and 15 minutes.

Another record is still held by Philip Perrin: the number of space orbits during a single mission, three in total. However, NASA plans a new space orbit on June 25 to complete the installation of the second solar panel. So Thomas Baskett should be at least equal to him.

To complete this new Odyssey on a high note, Normand became the first Frenchman to have control of the space laboratory for a month, at the end of his six-month voyage. “I am incredibly respectful! (…) I’m lucky to be the first Frenchman in control of a spaceship”, 43-year-old pilot happy at the time of the announcement. “This is a very special honor”, Underlined the spokesman for the European Space Agency (ESA).