1 00:00:08,490 --> 00:00:12,030 Why did you want to be an astronaut? 2 00:00:12,030 --> 00:00:19,030 It's... I like to say that it's not me who made the choice, 3 00:00:19,200 --> 00:00:25,599 It's not like I choose space but, in a way I was chosen, because I cannot really find 4 00:00:25,599 --> 00:00:32,199 a moment in my life when I made a conscious decision but in a way I always knew that I 5 00:00:32,199 --> 00:00:36,660 wanted to travel to space. You know, it goes back to early childhood, so it's maybe is 6 00:00:36,660 --> 00:00:41,390 just a shortcoming of memory, I don't know, maybe I just don't remember that moment, but 7 00:00:41,390 --> 00:00:46,720 for me, and also listening to my parents and also other adults, I just always said I... 8 00:00:46,720 --> 00:00:51,220 I want to go to space at some point. Maybe I didn't know there was such thing as 9 00:00:51,220 --> 00:00:58,220 an astronaut but I knew that I wanted to explore space, I wanted to fly up there. 10 00:00:58,600 --> 00:01:02,640 I guess this is probably what distinguish a passion from an interest, right? An intrest 11 00:01:02,640 --> 00:01:06,960 is something you choose but with passion, you're chosen by, somehow. 12 00:01:06,960 --> 00:01:12,670 I want to find out more about the background that engendered such passion. Tell me about 13 00:01:12,670 --> 00:01:18,289 your hometown and your childhood and how your life was like growing up. 14 00:01:18,289 --> 00:01:25,289 I grew up in a tiny, small village in the Alps, it's like a tourist resort where my 15 00:01:26,439 --> 00:01:33,439 parents had an hotel, which was their job, pretty demanding, you know people came in 16 00:01:34,979 --> 00:01:41,979 summer for some relaxing time in the mountains and in winter mainly to ski, and so summers 17 00:01:43,520 --> 00:01:50,049 and winters were bustling with life, and then the off-season like spring and autumn were 18 00:01:50,049 --> 00:01:57,049 extremely quiet in this mountain village. And again, my life was quite the same: in 19 00:02:00,130 --> 00:02:05,319 summer and winter there were a lot of people coming to the hotel, which ment also new kids 20 00:02:05,319 --> 00:02:12,280 to play with, so I got used since early age to meet new kids all the time, than play with 21 00:02:12,280 --> 00:02:17,140 them for a while and then they will be gone and then there will be new kids coming and 22 00:02:17,140 --> 00:02:21,810 then off-season again when it'll be more quiet. I was very close to nature, expecially in 23 00:02:21,810 --> 00:02:26,560 the summer with the good weather, I had... I was very fortunate to enjoy a childhood 24 00:02:26,560 --> 00:02:30,280 in which you can roam around, as a child you know, unsupervised, you don't have to have 25 00:02:30,280 --> 00:02:35,780 adults with you all the time. You can go, and roam around, and explore, and think that 26 00:02:35,780 --> 00:02:41,210 just crossing that bridge is exciting because you are on your own without adults, or going 27 00:02:41,210 --> 00:02:48,100 to explore the river, or you know, even just things that were dangerous and maybe an adult 28 00:02:48,100 --> 00:02:54,380 would have said "Don't do that". I think it is part of a valuable childhood experience 29 00:02:54,380 --> 00:03:00,370 where you just experience stuff on your own. And maybe that's where I got a taste for adventure 30 00:03:00,370 --> 00:03:05,870 that I think is very much part of that desire that I always had to go to space. The other 31 00:03:05,870 --> 00:03:10,390 thing is that when you grow up in a mountain village there is a very little ligh pollution, 32 00:03:10,390 --> 00:03:16,980 so the night sky is something that is very present. There's a lot of stars that are 33 00:03:16,980 --> 00:03:23,450 visible... I think it might be that around midnight they would turn off most of the street 34 00:03:23,450 --> 00:03:30,360 lightning, that wasn't that much anyway, and so the nigh sky and the stars have been a 35 00:03:30,360 --> 00:03:37,360 very strong presence in my childhood. I always liked to read and I was very much 36 00:03:38,450 --> 00:03:44,550 encouraged; also my grandmother tought me to read at a very young age, and I always 37 00:03:44,550 --> 00:03:50,210 loved to read science fiction books and in general speaking adventure books, so I think 38 00:03:50,210 --> 00:03:55,670 that helped too.. And I had very good teacher in elementary schools. Elementary school actually 39 00:03:55,670 --> 00:04:01,880 attended in this village and then I went elsewhere, and I think I had a very good schooling in 40 00:04:01,880 --> 00:04:07,920 my initial years, expecially like in the last fifth grade or so, at least at that time in 41 00:04:07,920 --> 00:04:14,920 Italy you start to teach kids about astronomy and planets, and the moon, and the sun, and 42 00:04:18,489 --> 00:04:23,560 again a very good teacher that sparked that interest in me. 43 00:04:23,560 --> 00:04:28,740 Do I understand that at least for part of high school you left the country... 44 00:04:28,740 --> 00:04:34,659 For part of it, yeah, so, ah when I was in the ah, I guess it'd be the eleventh grade 45 00:04:34,659 --> 00:04:39,370 I decided that it would be cool to spend the twelfth grade somewhere else, that’s an 46 00:04:39,370 --> 00:04:45,199 option, it’s like the second last year in the Italian school system. And so you had 47 00:04:45,199 --> 00:04:50,310 this organisation that is offering you the opportunity to become an exchange student 48 00:04:50,310 --> 00:04:57,310 for a year, and so I chose to come to the United States. Mainly I was very interested 49 00:04:57,830 --> 00:05:02,099 in the country itself, again it was the country that had had the most interesting and exciting 50 00:05:02,099 --> 00:05:08,389 space program and the country of Star Trek, and of course I was also very interested in 51 00:05:08,389 --> 00:05:13,550 improving my knowledge of English language. And so I spent a year in the high school in 52 00:05:13,550 --> 00:05:20,229 Saint Paul, Minnesota, and then I went back to Italy and I completed high school in Italy. 53 00:05:20,229 --> 00:05:26,449 And then that, excuse me, after that on the college, tell me that story and how you got 54 00:05:26,449 --> 00:05:30,830 into the Air Force and ultimately to the astronaut. 55 00:05:30,830 --> 00:05:36,490 Yeah, absolutely. So I debated for a while on whether I wanted to study Physics or Engineering, 56 00:05:36,490 --> 00:05:43,110 it was like my two big interests when I was growing up were science and technology, decided 57 00:05:43,110 --> 00:05:49,289 eventually to become and engineer, and I’ve decided that I wanted to go in a different 58 00:05:49,289 --> 00:05:55,550 country just to, you know, to master a different language, and just to have that culture experience, 59 00:05:55,550 --> 00:06:02,539 I was also always extremely interested in both languages and in just the fact of experiencing 60 00:06:02,539 --> 00:06:07,419 different cultures, not so much travelling, I mean I like travelling too, but I like to 61 00:06:07,419 --> 00:06:13,159 find ways of actually living in a place or somehow sharing the experience that the local 62 00:06:13,159 --> 00:06:18,729 people live. So I ended it up in not going very farI went 63 00:06:18,729 --> 00:06:23,580 to Germany, Munich, the university of Munich, and I studied aerospace engineering there, 64 00:06:23,580 --> 00:06:30,309 which was a wonderful experience, and I think a very good education, and while I was in 65 00:06:30,309 --> 00:06:35,840 there I also had a chance of participating in other programs, so for a while I studied, 66 00:06:35,840 --> 00:06:42,840 or I did a research project in Southern France at SUPAERO in Toulouse. And then I was always 67 00:06:43,419 --> 00:06:50,029 interested in Russia and Russian, and of course I knew that was a very important part of the 68 00:06:50,029 --> 00:06:55,939 space program too, my first attempt with studying Russian was dated back to high school actually 69 00:06:55,939 --> 00:07:01,099 but not ended to be very successful. And it didn’t look like was an exchange 70 00:07:01,099 --> 00:07:06,860 program between Munich and the Russian university, but then for a twist of fate eventually I 71 00:07:06,860 --> 00:07:13,409 found that a professor in Italy actually who had a good connection and a tradition of sending 72 00:07:13,409 --> 00:07:19,639 students to this university in Moscow, and so I was actually able to do the research 73 00:07:19,639 --> 00:07:25,289 for my final thesis in the Mendeleev University of Moscow and so I spent about eleven months 74 00:07:25,289 --> 00:07:30,680 in Moscow between 2000 and 2001. And then throughout all these years I was 75 00:07:30,680 --> 00:07:40,200 actually thinking about this other passion that had caught my heart which was military 76 00:07:40,349 --> 00:07:49,300 flying. Now, strangely enough the Italian military had not accepted women until the 77 00:07:49,439 --> 00:07:59,200 year 2000 I guess, so in the mid nineteen-nineties you could hear talking, you know, there will 78 00:07:59,369 --> 00:08:05,740 be soon a law that will allow voluntary military services for women but, you know, this law 79 00:08:05,740 --> 00:08:11,169 didn't come and I was getting older and older of course, and normally the age limit to join 80 00:08:11,169 --> 00:08:17,460 the academy as a pilot is 21, so at some point I turned 21, and turned 22, and the law had 81 00:08:17,460 --> 00:08:24,460 not come. And then, again for a twist of faith, when the law finally was passed in '99, there 82 00:08:24,879 --> 00:08:31,879 was a clause that said "For female candidates we are going to extend by three years the 83 00:08:32,550 --> 00:08:34,200 age limit" so 21 became 24. That was just for a transition period, for the first three 84 00:08:34,200 --> 00:08:35,349 years they wanted to help women out that had waited for so long, like me. 85 00:08:35,349 --> 00:08:38,820 That was just for a transition period, for the first three years they wanted to help 86 00:08:38,820 --> 00:08:45,009 women out that had waited for so long, like me. And so I was actually able to finish my 87 00:08:45,009 --> 00:08:49,630 engineering studies and that was the year I spent in Moscow. While I was there I also 88 00:08:49,630 --> 00:08:55,500 applied at the Air Force academy, I had actually to come back a couple of times to do part 89 00:08:55,500 --> 00:09:01,839 of that selection process and then basically it was back to back a big rush so I finished 90 00:09:01,839 --> 00:09:06,800 my engineering studies, I turned in my thesis, and almost the next day I showed up at the 91 00:09:06,800 --> 00:09:11,839 Airforce Academy for my studies and... in a way it wasn’t an obvious choice because 92 00:09:11,839 --> 00:09:17,250 I was... in a way I was throwing away my engineering studies, all that because I had to start again 93 00:09:17,250 --> 00:09:24,060 from scratch with, you know, colleagues that basically were out of school, and so do undergraduated 94 00:09:24,060 --> 00:09:28,860 studies again but, you know, at the end I think it was worth it, so I spent four years 95 00:09:28,860 --> 00:09:36,500 there, then I went to the United States again for pilot training, I got my wings at Sheppard 96 00:09:36,660 --> 00:09:43,100 Airforce Base up in northern Texas, which is a NATO school, and then went back to Italy. 97 00:09:43,100 --> 00:09:48,680 I had to wait a little bit for further training, and then I did my operational conversion on 98 00:09:48,680 --> 00:09:55,680 the AM-X which is the a single seater, light attack combat aircraft, and then for another 99 00:09:56,790 --> 00:10:01,670 twist of fate, pretty much at the same time as I was doing my operational conversion, 100 00:10:01,670 --> 00:10:10,400 which is a very very demanding and selective training, really at the same time I was going 101 00:10:10,519 --> 00:10:16,370 through the selection process for ESA, which in a way was a pity because I was again giving 102 00:10:16,370 --> 00:10:22,509 up my operational career that was just starting, but in Europe we just don't have selections 103 00:10:22,509 --> 00:10:27,819 that often, that regularly, so in a way I really felt it was a once in a lifetime opportunity 104 00:10:27,819 --> 00:10:34,050 and I had to grab it, and so that process to come took a year and then eventually it 105 00:10:34,050 --> 00:10:41,050 was enough to be one of the six people who joined ESA as astronauts in 2009. 106 00:10:41,250 --> 00:10:46,810 Was that astronauts selection something that you knew about and applied to, or had you just 107 00:10:46,810 --> 00:10:50,630 put in an application open in the “there will be” selection coming up? 108 00:10:50,630 --> 00:10:58,600 Yeah, no no, there is no unsolicited application: you have to wait for a selection to come up 109 00:10:59,120 --> 00:11:05,230 and, again, there have not been one for a lag of fifteen years, so.. and then, you know, 110 00:11:05,230 --> 00:11:09,420 I was not somebody who had a lot of connections in the space business, I mean not at all, 111 00:11:09,420 --> 00:11:15,680 so I didn't have any insight in when a selection was going to come up you know. I was, you know 112 00:11:15,680 --> 00:11:20,440 in a very demanding training program in the Air Force, and fully engaged in that and I 113 00:11:20,440 --> 00:11:26,860 was very happy in what I was doing, but then this news came out, then.. the selection was 114 00:11:26,860 --> 00:11:33,690 open, and again, you know it could be another fifteen years until the next one comes around, 115 00:11:33,690 --> 00:11:38,610 so I really had to grab that chance. 116 00:11:38,610 --> 00:11:43,810 Now that you are an astronaut, do you feel that you're gonna be a role model for other 117 00:11:43,810 --> 00:11:48,680 european women who have an interest in this field? 118 00:11:48,680 --> 00:11:54,269 I hope... It’s a question I get asked a lot and in a way I really hope to be a role 119 00:11:54,269 --> 00:12:00,560 model for anybody who’s interested in this field, I don’t think the experience that specific. 120 00:12:00,560 --> 00:12:04,360 I mean there might be some gender connotation but I don’t think the experience is 121 00:12:04,360 --> 00:12:12,800 so specific that, you know, you have to compartmentalize your role modelling... role. 122 00:12:12,860 --> 00:12:15,400 I think growing up, you know, 123 00:12:15,550 --> 00:12:21,920 I’ve looked up to men and women equally and tried to learn from other 124 00:12:21,920 --> 00:12:27,889 people that I thought could be role models, something that I could apply in my life. Now, 125 00:12:27,889 --> 00:12:32,110 of course, what can be especially important for women is that it can be encouraging to 126 00:12:32,110 --> 00:12:38,540 see that, you know, women can do that and in fields where there aren’t that many women 127 00:12:38,540 --> 00:12:48,120 it can be quite important, actually, and that’s certainly a privileged position to be in. 128 00:12:48,230 --> 00:12:54,019 To have this job and to fly in space as you're about to do means that you're accepting some 129 00:12:54,019 --> 00:12:59,589 unique risks that most people don't have but I assume that you think that's worthwhile 130 00:12:59,589 --> 00:13:05,160 since you're doing it. I wanna know why. What is it that you think we're learning from flying 131 00:13:05,160 --> 00:13:10,009 people in space that makes it worth taking that risk? 132 00:13:10,009 --> 00:13:21,869 Firs of all I'd like to say, you know, you always weight the risk that you're taking 133 00:13:21,980 --> 00:13:28,129 against how much you want something right? For example you know there's a risk involved 134 00:13:28,129 --> 00:13:33,600 in driving on the highway and to go on holiday but you take that risk because you think you 135 00:13:33,600 --> 00:13:39,720 really want to get to that vacation place and so you think the risk is acceptable so 136 00:13:39,720 --> 00:13:45,000 I think for most astronauts and certainly for me the desire to be part of this is so 137 00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:52,000 strong and it's so ingrained in who I am, is so part of my identity that I would probably 138 00:13:52,470 --> 00:13:59,470 just take any risk because it just doesn't compare to that desire that you have to participate 139 00:14:00,129 --> 00:14:05,740 in this adventure. Overall of course if look at it from the outside 140 00:14:05,740 --> 00:14:15,240 and you wanna do a cold cost-benefit analysis, you know, I'm one of those people who think 141 00:14:15,300 --> 00:14:20,300 that even without going down at the details of, you know, what's the benefit of this, 142 00:14:20,300 --> 00:14:25,879 what's the benefit of that, I think there is a sense of destiny in the sole idea of 143 00:14:25,879 --> 00:14:33,459 space exploration. I mean, if you ask anybody: "Imagine humanity in 500 years, do you imagine 144 00:14:33,470 --> 00:14:38,790 humanity being still earthbound? Like, we still are not able to go anywhere else?" I 145 00:14:38,790 --> 00:14:46,759 think we all intuitively, spontaneously imagine humanity as being able to travel in space. 146 00:14:46,759 --> 00:14:51,889 Travel to the Moon, travel to Mars, travel to asteroids. Live there, exploit resources, 147 00:14:51,889 --> 00:14:57,160 going on vacation, you know, whatever, do all the things that human beings like to do 148 00:14:57,160 --> 00:15:08,120 once they have "conquered" let's say a place. So, you know, to me is being part of the, 149 00:15:08,129 --> 00:15:15,029 you know, the first step towards that future that is so obviously part of what's coming 150 00:15:15,029 --> 00:15:20,670 for humanity and really one other thing I'd like to say is that it's very long term, and 151 00:15:20,670 --> 00:15:24,889 it's difficult as human beings, as we have a little life span of like 70 years whatever 152 00:15:24,889 --> 00:15:35,639 70, 80, 100 but, you know, if you try to expand to a bigger time scale and think to humanity's 153 00:15:35,639 --> 00:15:41,470 presence on Earth, it is dangerous to live on your own planet so, you know, one day when 154 00:15:41,470 --> 00:15:47,910 that big asteroid comes or whatever, you know, we're gonna be happy that we have learnt starting 155 00:15:47,910 --> 00:15:52,350 today how to travel to other places. 156 00:15:55,160 --> 00:15:59,029 You and your crewmates are next in line to launch to the International Space Station. 157 00:15:59,029 --> 00:16:03,810 Tell me what are the goals of this flight and what your job is gonna be on this mission. 158 00:16:03,810 --> 00:16:10,429 The International Space Station, is this incredible permanent laboratory on low Earth orbit where 159 00:16:10,439 --> 00:16:15,319 we can do research in microgravity. So the job of any crew that shows up on Station is 160 00:16:15,319 --> 00:16:22,319 to continue this scientific research that happens on board. So in part we will continue 161 00:16:22,430 --> 00:16:28,230 experiments that have been running for a while, sometimes we will wrap up a particular experiment, 162 00:16:28,230 --> 00:16:33,259 and in some cases we will start a new experiment or several new experiments actually and that's 163 00:16:33,259 --> 00:16:37,480 especially exiting of course, but then we will also take care of the Space Station. 164 00:16:37,480 --> 00:16:41,850 We will do maintenance work, we'll do logistic work, we'll take care of cargos coming and 165 00:16:41,850 --> 00:16:47,699 leaving, some of us might go on spacewalks, we'll do robotics work, and interestingly enough 166 00:16:47,699 --> 00:16:53,379 we'll be up there at the beginning of a major reconfiguration work that will take several 167 00:16:53,379 --> 00:16:59,230 expeditions and that will set up the space station to be able to run even more robust 168 00:16:59,230 --> 00:17:01,439 operations for several years to come. 169 00:17:01,439 --> 00:17:05,709 Is that reconfiguration internal or external? 170 00:17:05,709 --> 00:17:11,800 There's some internal reconfiguration going on, but the main goal is to move around a 171 00:17:11,800 --> 00:17:18,260 few modules so that especially the logistics support, so the arrival and departure of cargoes 172 00:17:18,260 --> 00:17:25,100 is gonna be more flexible we will be able to host multiple cargo vehicles at the same time. 173 00:17:25,220 --> 00:17:29,679 What are you looking forward to the most about seeing when you get there? 174 00:17:29,680 --> 00:17:38,700 Ah, lots of people would say... you know, I think I'd run to the cupola and watch the Earth, 175 00:17:38,740 --> 00:17:43,220 and yes, I'm very much looking forward to do that, but to be honest after so many 176 00:17:43,220 --> 00:17:49,650 years of training and the space station being so much part of my daily life I am just looking 177 00:17:49,650 --> 00:17:54,380 forward to seeing the actual space station, you know, to see it, you know, when you approach 178 00:17:54,380 --> 00:17:58,770 it to see it coming up as a light dot and becoming bigger and bigger and then you start 179 00:17:58,770 --> 00:18:02,850 seeing the features and then, you know, I can see it on the camera, or peeking on the 180 00:18:02,850 --> 00:18:07,360 periscope of my commander in the Soyuz, I can see the actual image, you know, and 181 00:18:07,360 --> 00:18:12,270 becomes greater and greater, and make up the details and you end up seeing the solar panels, 182 00:18:12,270 --> 00:18:18,279 the stack, your actual docking port, and then actually getting inside, and I just look forward to 183 00:18:18,279 --> 00:18:23,789 go ahead and discover all the details of this incredible outpost of humanity in space that 184 00:18:23,789 --> 00:18:27,740 has been so much part of my life, I feel that I know so much about it, and I'm really looking 185 00:18:27,740 --> 00:18:30,360 forward to actually seeing it with my own eyes. 186 00:18:30,360 --> 00:18:36,169 And you're gonna be the first female european astronaut to serve as a crew member onoboard 187 00:18:36,169 --> 00:18:41,960 the station. How significant is that for you, for you personally or for the future of european 188 00:18:41,960 --> 00:18:44,880 women in space exploration? 189 00:18:44,880 --> 00:18:48,480 I think, as you rightly say, there's two aspects, right? You know, there's your personal point 190 00:18:48,480 --> 00:18:52,640 of view and then there's the significance that this can have for others. And I do think 191 00:18:52,640 --> 00:18:57,520 I'm in the position of serving as a role model for young, you know, girls and young women 192 00:18:57,520 --> 00:19:01,440 in Europe. Maybe they are thinking of pursuing a career like this, or just simply a career 193 00:19:01,440 --> 00:19:08,150 in science or technology or military flying, which are parts of my background. So I think 194 00:19:08,150 --> 00:19:12,809 that's important; I think I'm in a privileged position. On the other hand, from the personal 195 00:19:12,809 --> 00:19:17,279 point of view, I think you have to keep your feet very much grounded and realise, you know, 196 00:19:17,279 --> 00:19:23,100 you're just a crewmember like like everybody else. There's no special badge of honor associated 197 00:19:23,100 --> 00:19:28,159 with being a female, there's nobody out there to try and make your life harder because you're 198 00:19:28,159 --> 00:19:34,210 a female so, you know, you try to do your job as weel as you can, like everybody else. 199 00:19:34,210 --> 00:19:40,010 You're going to arrive at the station just a few weeks after Alexander Gerst comes home. 200 00:19:40,010 --> 00:19:44,850 There must be some significance to the fact that ESA will have an astronaut onboard essentially 201 00:19:44,850 --> 00:19:46,690 for one continuous year. 202 00:19:46,690 --> 00:19:53,690 Yeah. And that's a first, and I think everybody in the space business in Europe is very excited 203 00:19:53,710 --> 00:19:59,520 about it, and I really hope that we get, we're able to get the public excited about this 204 00:19:59,520 --> 00:20:04,590 as well. I hope in a way that the public, just Europeans, gets used to have fellow Europeans 205 00:20:04,590 --> 00:20:09,809 in space, and you know, they get this feeling that... Because, you know, Europe has been 206 00:20:09,809 --> 00:20:16,130 a major player in the space business for, you know, for decades in many aspects, 207 00:20:16,130 --> 00:20:23,130 you know, not only in human space flights but also and even more in other fields. But astronauts 208 00:20:23,440 --> 00:20:28,950 attract attention and curiosity, you know, the fact that there's actually human beings 209 00:20:28,950 --> 00:20:35,950 going up there that is just fascinating, everybody is interested and excited about this. So, 210 00:20:36,090 --> 00:20:40,140 you know, I hope that as I said that people just get used to the that thought that there's 211 00:20:40,140 --> 00:20:45,000 fellow Europeans in space, and they get a taste for it, and maybe want more and more 212 00:20:45,000 --> 00:20:46,669 of Europe in space. 213 00:20:46,669 --> 00:20:51,779 The space station assebly is essentially complete, and the emphasis is really on the science 214 00:20:51,779 --> 00:20:57,529 that's been done up there right now. How do you explain to people the significance or 215 00:20:57,529 --> 00:21:02,080 the potential of what we can learn onboard the space station? 216 00:21:02,080 --> 00:21:11,380 I think what you... Uhm, the main point is that is extremely unique. It's an extremely 217 00:21:11,420 --> 00:21:18,960 unique enviroment. Microgravity, which is a fancy word for weightlessness in the end, 218 00:21:18,970 --> 00:21:24,950 means that you shut down, you eliminate the effects of gravit. Mind you, there is gravity 219 00:21:24,950 --> 00:21:28,470 in low Earth orbit, we're just not that far from Earth I mean, you know, the gravitational 220 00:21:28,480 --> 00:21:33,390 pull of Earth is still about 90% of what it is on the Earth's surface, but the fact that 221 00:21:33,390 --> 00:21:39,880 we're on orbit so essentially free-falling, shuts down, eliminates the effects of gravity. 222 00:21:39,880 --> 00:21:45,360 And that's the only way we have to do that on a long therm permanent basis. 223 00:21:45,360 --> 00:21:50,440 I mean, you can... you can do parabolic flights you know and for every parabola you will get, 224 00:21:50,440 --> 00:21:56,190 you know, maybe 20-22 seconds of microgravity. There's drop towers... you know, you essentially 225 00:21:56,190 --> 00:22:00,789 drop something from, you know, that certain height and then for few second while it drops 226 00:22:00,789 --> 00:22:04,559 you will have some microgravity. There are sounding rockets that will give 227 00:22:04,559 --> 00:22:10,649 you a few minutes of microgravity, but to have a permanent exposure to this very special 228 00:22:10,649 --> 00:22:15,760 unique environment for research you have to go to the International Space Station. 229 00:22:15,760 --> 00:22:22,760 And so, in the human physiology of course, you're basically learn so much about how the human 230 00:22:23,210 --> 00:22:29,990 body functions on so many different levels. I mean, the whole body level when it uses 231 00:22:29,990 --> 00:22:35,740 astronauts like me as subjects, but then you can work your way day to single systems and 232 00:22:35,740 --> 00:22:42,740 all the way down to single tissues and cells, how do cells react to microgravity, how there's 233 00:22:43,270 --> 00:22:50,010 all the genomics effect, gene expression, I mean, we're reaaly tackling these issues at 234 00:22:50,010 --> 00:22:56,450 all kinds of different levels, and we're learning so much about our human body functions. 235 00:22:56,450 --> 00:23:02,570 And then there's the physical sciences. There are so many phenomena where it's hard... 236 00:23:02,570 --> 00:23:07,820 They're hard to study on the ground because the gravity masks some effects or makes it 237 00:23:07,820 --> 00:23:10,669 really difficult to observe some phenomena because they're masked because they're masked 238 00:23:10,669 --> 00:23:13,549 by gravity because gravity is a very strong force. 239 00:23:13,549 --> 00:23:18,950 And so by eliminating those effects all of the sudden other phenomena become observable 240 00:23:18,950 --> 00:23:24,490 and you're able to measure and quantify and learn and write equations. And it seems very 241 00:23:24,490 --> 00:23:31,120 abstract but in the end, down the line it might mean that you have developed a lighter 242 00:23:31,120 --> 00:23:35,750 material for you car engine which means that you're car is lighter wich means that when 243 00:23:35,750 --> 00:23:40,029 you go to fill it up you're gonna just pay a smaller bill. 244 00:23:40,029 --> 00:23:43,940 So we are learning things that have an impact to those of us on the ground, right? 245 00:23:43,940 --> 00:23:49,659 Yes, yes I thinks so and some things are down the line because it's foundamental reserch 246 00:23:49,659 --> 00:23:55,929 but hey, that's the case for any kind of fundamental research, right, you just have to learn things 247 00:23:55,929 --> 00:24:01,990 and based on that knowledge other people, sometimes in the very short therm future, sometime it 248 00:24:01,990 --> 00:24:06,610 takes a while, they will invent a new tecnologies to make our life better based on that knowledge 249 00:24:06,610 --> 00:24:10,669 that we've gained. But you know, some of the research we do on the space station nowadays 250 00:24:10,669 --> 00:24:15,220 has actually pretty immediate applications and that's why for example there's not only 251 00:24:15,220 --> 00:24:20,640 like public research institutes that now research on the space station but we also have some 252 00:24:20,640 --> 00:24:25,200 commercial research projects. 253 00:24:25,200 --> 00:24:29,539 As you mentioned one of the big area of research is finding out how that enviroment effects 254 00:24:29,539 --> 00:24:34,330 the human body and then try to figure out ways to counter the negative effects of it. 255 00:24:34,330 --> 00:24:39,529 Well, in March the station programme is gonna be sending two crew-members for a full year 256 00:24:39,529 --> 00:24:43,820 to try to learn more about abaut it. You're gonna be on board, one of the people onboard 257 00:24:43,820 --> 00:24:48,570 to greet them when tey arrive. Tell me your thoughts about the year-long mission. 258 00:24:48,570 --> 00:24:53,529 It's exciting, I think, from research point of view. I think the research community is 259 00:24:53,529 --> 00:24:59,190 extremely happy to get this opportunity, to actually observe this changes due to the microgravity 260 00:24:59,190 --> 00:25:04,510 enviroment on the human body for longer term. And we might do this game, but the first ones 261 00:25:04,510 --> 00:25:10,970 are indeed Scott and Mischa, who will join us on the space station this upcoming March, 262 00:25:10,970 --> 00:25:16,309 and... of course you also have the perspective of the crew, right? So you know that you have 263 00:25:16,309 --> 00:25:22,240 these two crewmates, these fellow crewmates, who are coming up and they are going to be 264 00:25:22,240 --> 00:25:26,620 onboard for one year, and as exciting as it is, we also, I think, all recognize that it's 265 00:25:26,620 --> 00:25:34,460 not easy to be gone for an entire year, so I think that we as crew and crewmates, we 266 00:25:34,460 --> 00:25:39,990 recognize the importance of getting them started on the right foot and supporting them as much 267 00:25:39,990 --> 00:25:42,470 possible while we are on board with them. 268 00:25:42,470 --> 00:25:46,769 If that comes up later again would you like to make a year long trip yourself? 269 00:25:46,769 --> 00:25:52,220 Yeah, I mean, I think I would, yeah, I mean it's hard to say for sure, having not been 270 00:25:52,220 --> 00:25:56,519 up there at all even for six months, but it does seem pretty exciting and attractive as 271 00:25:56,519 --> 00:25:59,059 a perspective. 272 00:25:59,059 --> 00:26:03,659 Give me a couple of examples, two or three of the experiments in this area that you're 273 00:26:03,659 --> 00:26:08,110 going to be working on as we try to learn more about how the weightless environment 274 00:26:08,110 --> 00:26:10,080 impacts human beings. 275 00:26:10,080 --> 00:26:14,330 Yeah, and those are actually the experiments as astronauts we know the most about, because 276 00:26:14,330 --> 00:26:19,440 we are the subjects, and so we are trained a lot to perform those experiments. A few 277 00:26:19,440 --> 00:26:25,370 that come to mind, there is one, it's called "Drain Brain", which sounds a little bit scary, 278 00:26:25,370 --> 00:26:33,659 but nobody is going to drain our brain. The point is to gather data, on the venous flow 279 00:26:33,659 --> 00:26:39,760 out of your brain. We are used to think about blood supply to your brain, 280 00:26:39,760 --> 00:26:46,760 but it's actually equally important that blood then, the venous flow, flows back to your 281 00:26:47,019 --> 00:26:51,230 heart. And it's a pilot project, let's say, that might be done to more subjects in the 282 00:26:51,230 --> 00:26:56,799 future, but for now the idea is to gather initial data, about how microgravity affects 283 00:26:56,799 --> 00:27:04,959 that, and also to develop a very simple, non-invasive, operator independent system for measuring 284 00:27:04,970 --> 00:27:11,460 this venous blood flow. And this affects of course a lot, it has immediate applications 285 00:27:11,460 --> 00:27:16,620 on the ground, for people who unfortunately have insufficiency in their blood return and it 286 00:27:16,620 --> 00:27:22,350 would be very important to validate a technology that makes it easier to monitor their condition. 287 00:27:22,350 --> 00:27:29,350 Another one is about sleep. We've known for a while that astronauts' sleep on the space 288 00:27:30,080 --> 00:27:36,960 station is not optimal. Most people tend to sleep not as well as they do on the ground. 289 00:27:36,960 --> 00:27:42,830 There's a continuous micro-awakenings, throughout the night, much like people with sleep issues 290 00:27:42,830 --> 00:27:49,299 on the ground, and there is a theory that it might be related to modifications is the 291 00:27:49,299 --> 00:27:54,600 mechanics of heart. The heart is a pump, right? It has valves, and it pumps all the time. 292 00:27:54,600 --> 00:28:03,000 And microgravity might an effect on this very fine mechanics, of the heart, and this might 293 00:28:03,010 --> 00:28:08,970 be what's causing, in this hypothesis, these micro-awakenings that disturb the sleep of 294 00:28:08,970 --> 00:28:12,970 astronauts. So I'm going to be wearing for several nights in a row, several times throughout 295 00:28:12,970 --> 00:28:19,970 the mission, a special shirt, that has a series of sensors on it, and also has a 3-axis accelerometer, 296 00:28:20,659 --> 00:28:26,230 that being in contact with my sternum and will observe the mechanics of my heart beating 297 00:28:26,230 --> 00:28:31,260 when I sleep. Another one, a very interesting one, that 298 00:28:31,260 --> 00:28:37,179 we're gonna start during our mission, it's gonna be me and Terry, the first two subjects, 299 00:28:37,180 --> 00:28:40,060 and then hopefully will continue in the future, it's called Airway Monitoring. 300 00:28:40,080 --> 00:28:46,380 A rather complex experimental setup, so quite challenging. The first experiments that will 301 00:28:46,710 --> 00:28:53,320 take place in airlock, because we will have to do part of the protocol at a reduced pressure. 302 00:28:53,320 --> 00:28:57,299 So it's gonna be me and Terry in the airlock and we will reduce the pressure to about 10 303 00:28:57,299 --> 00:29:04,799 psi and do a series of measurements. And the point there is to measure the mechanics of 304 00:29:04,809 --> 00:29:12,669 the gas exchange in your lungs, and it has of course implications in fundamental science. 305 00:29:12,669 --> 00:29:21,169 We want to better understand how this gases exchange functions, and then also validate 306 00:29:21,169 --> 00:29:27,490 again some measurement technologies that can help people on the ground that have issues 307 00:29:27,490 --> 00:29:31,670 with, you know, breathing diseases like asthma 308 00:29:31,780 --> 00:29:35,680 which is unfortunately extremely quite spread on the planet. 309 00:29:35,700 --> 00:29:41,049 That’s all a very interesting sounding thing. It will be interesting if we get to see any 310 00:29:41,049 --> 00:29:46,700 of that. As you said the crew members are also working on other experiments in other 311 00:29:46,700 --> 00:29:51,559 different areas of science beyond human life sciences. Can you tell me about two or three 312 00:29:51,559 --> 00:29:55,169 of those experiments that you are looking forward to taking part in? 313 00:29:55,169 --> 00:30:01,299 Yes, absolutely and... there’s two areas, one area is that of the life sciences that 314 00:30:01,320 --> 00:30:07,820 do not observe the human body as a whole but rather his... for example cell cultures. 315 00:30:07,820 --> 00:30:18,000 There is one that is called NATO that will bring to station cultures of like bone cells and 316 00:30:18,000 --> 00:30:27,159 the idea is to test the effectiveness of some specific nano-particles in preventing bone 317 00:30:27,159 --> 00:30:31,669 re-absorption. We we are used to think maybe, unless we know something about it, that the 318 00:30:31,669 --> 00:30:37,230 bone is something ah.. you know it’s stiff, is rigid and we are maybe not just to think 319 00:30:37,230 --> 00:30:41,899 that is such a living tissue, but there is a lot going on, there’s the… the bone 320 00:30:41,899 --> 00:30:48,899 is constantly reabsorbed and then reformed in the body and we rely on this balance between 321 00:30:49,350 --> 00:30:54,600 destruction of bone mass and production of new bone mass. And in space and unfortunately 322 00:30:54,600 --> 00:31:01,600 on the ground with people with osteoporosis this balance is disrupted, and so we are trying, 323 00:31:02,059 --> 00:31:06,580 of course we have lots of countermeasures based on exercises, but it’s very interesting 324 00:31:06,580 --> 00:31:14,120 to try and look for pharmacological countermeasures. So this experiment will look into the 325 00:31:14,120 --> 00:31:21,120 effectiveness of these particular nano-particles in actually diminishing the re-absorption 326 00:31:21,750 --> 00:31:28,070 of... of the bone, and so tipping that balance between absorption and production in our favor, 327 00:31:28,070 --> 00:31:37,850 in our balance. The other thing is physical sciences, a lot of the physical science experiments 328 00:31:37,850 --> 00:31:42,690 on board, you have to be fair, they run very much automatically, they do not require a 329 00:31:42,690 --> 00:31:46,940 lot of co-interaction. So a lot of time in our training we will be trained in a facility, 330 00:31:46,940 --> 00:31:54,440 let’s say the material science laboratory and then the... we will be taught for example 331 00:31:54,440 --> 00:31:59,750 how to change a cartridge. We do not have as astronauts all the time a lot of insight, 332 00:31:59,750 --> 00:32:05,259 in the details of an experiment but we have to be the hands like a lab technician. We 333 00:32:05,259 --> 00:32:09,450 are not scientists necessarily on board, we are like lab technicians, we have to lend 334 00:32:09,450 --> 00:32:15,059 our hands to the scientists to physically do a few tasks that of course cannot be done 335 00:32:15,059 --> 00:32:19,600 from the ground like for example changing a cartridge, but once you have done that and 336 00:32:19,600 --> 00:32:22,990 that you have made sure that everything runs properly then they can run the experiment 337 00:32:22,990 --> 00:32:27,350 from the ground. Sometimes there’s a little bit more involvement like for example there’s 338 00:32:27,350 --> 00:32:34,350 this experiment called BCAT, which has been running for several years but with different 339 00:32:34,630 --> 00:32:41,309 samples every time and there is a lot of interest in the... from the industry in this field, 340 00:32:41,309 --> 00:32:47,840 the field of colloidal... physics, and there's a little bit more astronaut's involvement 341 00:32:47,840 --> 00:32:52,880 in that, in those types experiments, because you actually have to go in, shake the samples 342 00:32:52,880 --> 00:32:57,860 with the magnet, and then you have set up the camera in a very specific way, so that 343 00:32:57,860 --> 00:33:04,860 you can take pictures at a certain interval, and then the scientists will actually observe those 344 00:33:04,950 --> 00:33:10,679 pictures to understand the details in microgravity of colloidal physics. 345 00:33:10,679 --> 00:33:15,370 We hear sometimes you and your crew members talking with the investigators on the ground, 346 00:33:15,370 --> 00:33:21,070 in circumstances, I think, that at some point are like what you described there. It must be 347 00:33:21,070 --> 00:33:27,409 pretty interesting and very pretty to get to work with these brilliant people on that science. 348 00:33:27,409 --> 00:33:33,409 Oh, it's one of the privileges of being an astronaut, is that you really work with, I 349 00:33:33,409 --> 00:33:40,289 say hundreds or maybe it's more, of people who are really top experts in their fields, 350 00:33:40,289 --> 00:33:45,730 it's a unique position in which we are in. Sometimes we're actually so busy absorbing 351 00:33:45,730 --> 00:33:50,549 information that, we don't take full advantage of it, like you know, sometimes I find myself 352 00:33:50,549 --> 00:33:55,190 thinking, you know, I just spent thirty minutes talking to that person that if I had the chance 353 00:33:55,190 --> 00:33:59,309 to... if I had had the chance to meet this person like years ago, when I had plenty of 354 00:33:59,309 --> 00:34:03,740 time and not so many opportunities, maybe would try to talk to him or her for hours 355 00:34:03,740 --> 00:34:08,100 asking questions, and it's... you know in our life the ways to operate right now. 356 00:34:08,100 --> 00:34:12,610 You talk to him or her and then you move on to the next person... so, in a way it's unfortunate 357 00:34:12,610 --> 00:34:17,889 because you can't take full advantage of this opportunities of interactions you have, but on 358 00:34:17,889 --> 00:34:22,220 the other hand, as you said, it's an incredible opportunity. 359 00:34:22,220 --> 00:34:26,679 Besides the work that you do with science and experiments, the crew members onboard 360 00:34:26,679 --> 00:34:31,679 are responsible for making sure that the station keeps operating. Tell me about some of the 361 00:34:31,679 --> 00:34:37,790 other kinds of work that you do onboard during a typical day or week. 362 00:34:37,790 --> 00:34:47,230 Yeah, the station has to be kept in a good function and state, and so there is normal 363 00:34:47,230 --> 00:34:53,839 maintenance that you have to do, just like your car, like periodically, every so many months 364 00:34:53,840 --> 00:35:00,030 you will bring it in, and the technicians will take care of replacing certain parts that 365 00:35:00,030 --> 00:35:05,490 need to be replaced after a certain time. And the space station is the same: there's 366 00:35:05,490 --> 00:35:11,780 specialists on the ground that keep track of how often you have to do a specific maintenance 367 00:35:11,780 --> 00:35:16,710 on a piece of equipment. And the station being so big and so complex of course that there 368 00:35:16,710 --> 00:35:23,050 is a lot of that going on. And now unfortunately, of course, sometimes there are also situations 369 00:35:23,050 --> 00:35:30,560 in which things break. And then again, as crewmembers, we work closely with the ground, 370 00:35:30,560 --> 00:35:36,780 we describe as much as we can, the situation like what broke, how does it look, has it 371 00:35:36,780 --> 00:35:43,040 any weird smells, do I have a suggestion on how could we fix it, we take a lot of pictures, 372 00:35:43,040 --> 00:35:49,460 the ground teams love pictures, and then all together we come up to the solution and we 373 00:35:49,460 --> 00:35:54,540 try to fix it, and sometimes occasionally something will break outside and we actually 374 00:35:54,540 --> 00:35:59,760 have to suit up and go outside in a spacewalk to go and fix something, and there of course 375 00:35:59,760 --> 00:36:07,020 becomes quite a bit more complex, but as recent history shows, the program's actually capable 376 00:36:07,030 --> 00:36:11,630 to turn around very quickly and react to a failure outside. 377 00:36:11,630 --> 00:36:17,369 Those are called contingency spacewalks, something is broken we gotta go outside. There's a plan 378 00:36:17,369 --> 00:36:22,500 for spacewalks during your time on orbit, and although that may change, as these things 379 00:36:22,500 --> 00:36:28,079 tend to do, what is the plan for spacewalks during your six months? Who's gonna go outside? 380 00:36:28,079 --> 00:36:30,310 What are they gonna be working on? 381 00:36:30,310 --> 00:36:38,010 Erm, the plan is really in flux for our expedition, so it's really hard to say. If you had asked 382 00:36:38,010 --> 00:36:42,980 me a month ago I would have told you Terry and Butch will go outside in two spacewalks 383 00:36:42,980 --> 00:36:49,920 and I will be the I.V., so the intravehicular support person who will help them run on the 384 00:36:49,920 --> 00:36:58,440 airlock ops and the suit up. And, the plan is for them to deploy few very 385 00:36:58,450 --> 00:37:07,050 long cables that will support the station reconfiguration that is upcoming in 2015. 386 00:37:08,660 --> 00:37:16,700 The plan however is very much changing every day and so we are all perfectly trained to 387 00:37:16,700 --> 00:37:23,700 go out on a spacewalk, and I think we are ready to perform anything that the Space Station 388 00:37:23,700 --> 00:37:26,800 Program will require from us. 389 00:37:26,800 --> 00:37:28,579 That will be exciting if you get to go outside... 390 00:37:28,579 --> 00:37:33,480 I think so yeah, it would be very exciting to go outside. The training already has been 391 00:37:33,480 --> 00:37:38,470 very challenging and I think mainly because it was so challenging it was also very rewarding 392 00:37:38,470 --> 00:37:44,859 and interesting. And of course to be able to actually use that training and go outside 393 00:37:44,859 --> 00:37:46,880 would be extremely exciting. 394 00:37:46,880 --> 00:37:52,390 You're gonna be on orbit for the 50th anniversary of the first spacewwalk by Aleksei Leonov. 395 00:37:53,260 --> 00:38:00,260 Tell me what you think about how important spacewalking has been to our efforts to explore space. 396 00:38:00,260 --> 00:38:06,869 Well, I mean, there wouldn't be a space station if we hadn't had spacewalking capability. 397 00:38:06,869 --> 00:38:14,469 I forgot how many hundreds of EVA (Extra Vehicular Activity) hours have been put in to actually 398 00:38:14,470 --> 00:38:21,079 put the space station together. And, extremely complex, I think, spacewalks, especially, 399 00:38:21,079 --> 00:38:25,819 you know, during the assembly phase where mainly Shuttle crews would perform spacewalks. 400 00:38:25,819 --> 00:38:33,539 They had a lot of pool time, underwater, specifically for that one spacewalk. So they were extremely 401 00:38:33,550 --> 00:38:40,550 efficient and capable of performing very complex, I like to call them, coreographies. 402 00:38:41,750 --> 00:38:49,520 Nowadays of course we have shifted the attention more towards skills, because the plans change 403 00:38:49,520 --> 00:38:54,430 quite quickly, it's quite umpredictable what a station crew will actually do. Sometimes 404 00:38:54,430 --> 00:39:00,819 the plans change after the crew has completed their training time here in Houston, sometimes 405 00:39:00,819 --> 00:39:06,000 they change while they are on orbit, sometimes there's a need for a contingency. So we've 406 00:39:06,000 --> 00:39:13,000 shifted the focus from training very hard and thouroughful on one specific EVA content 407 00:39:13,829 --> 00:39:20,520 towards being extremely flexible and have basic skills that allow us to then perform 408 00:39:20,520 --> 00:39:26,030 any kind of EVA that might be required. Of course we are not gonna be as efficient as 409 00:39:26,030 --> 00:39:30,680 Shuttle crews used to be, when they were very specifically trained for an EVA, but that 410 00:39:30,680 --> 00:39:34,960 allows us to face any possible task. 411 00:39:34,960 --> 00:39:41,359 In these days the space station is getting supplies from a small fleet of uncrewed cargo 412 00:39:41,359 --> 00:39:48,100 vehicles. Tell me about the different international vehicles that you expect to see during your time up there. 413 00:39:48,119 --> 00:39:53,460 Oh we'll see, we'll see a lot. I think the only one that we will not see is the Japanese 414 00:39:53,460 --> 00:40:01,510 HTV. But other than that, when we get on board, there will be ATV docked, which is ATV-5 "George 415 00:40:01,510 --> 00:40:09,349 Lemaitre", which is already onboard and docked. And ATV tends to stay quite long on the International 416 00:40:09,349 --> 00:40:15,319 Space Station because it also serves for reboost purposes; so the longer we keep it onboard 417 00:40:15,320 --> 00:40:21,349 the more we can save the other resources for reboost. 418 00:40:21,349 --> 00:40:25,540 So it will be onboard and I will have the privilege of supporting the undocking and 419 00:40:25,540 --> 00:40:31,869 departure ops for what will actually be the last ATV. So we're actually wrapping up the 420 00:40:31,869 --> 00:40:38,869 ATV program, and it will be interesting because the reentry of ATV this time will be very 421 00:40:41,599 --> 00:40:48,550 special. We are actually working towards gathering information for somehting which is still far 422 00:40:48,550 --> 00:40:53,030 ahead in the future, but it's gonna be very challenging, which is: what do we do with 423 00:40:53,030 --> 00:40:56,750 the space station once we have finished operating it. 424 00:40:56,750 --> 00:41:02,609 It has to re-enter and it has to re-enter safely and it is obviously the biggest object 425 00:41:02,609 --> 00:41:12,709 ever to re-enter the atmosphere and come back to earth. So, there is a need, you know the 426 00:41:12,710 --> 00:41:17,500 teams have recognized that there is a need to understand better the properties of the 427 00:41:17,500 --> 00:41:23,220 atmosphere in certain layers to be able to better predict how the station will react, 428 00:41:23,220 --> 00:41:29,010 how it will slow down, how it will break up, because of course we want to end up, you know, 429 00:41:29,010 --> 00:41:34,640 any pieces that do not fully burn-up, we want them to end up in this specific area in the 430 00:41:34,640 --> 00:41:40,210 the Pacific which is identified for the re-entries like that, and not of course to end up in 431 00:41:40,210 --> 00:41:45,599 random places. So to make absolutely and fully sure that we understand this fully, we are 432 00:41:45,599 --> 00:41:52,599 going to guide ATV through a shallow re-entry that should mimic what the re-entry of the 433 00:41:52,800 --> 00:41:58,430 space station will be at some point in the future. And we will have, I think, a hundred 434 00:41:58,430 --> 00:42:05,819 or more cameras set up to record this partly from the space station and partly from the 435 00:42:05,819 --> 00:42:15,759 ground stations and ship based stations on the oceans. And there will be some experiments 436 00:42:15,770 --> 00:42:21,760 inside ATV, that in part I will set up, to observe the breakup, I think there is even 437 00:42:21,760 --> 00:42:27,000 a camera in there that will actually record from inside the breaking up of ATV, so we 438 00:42:27,000 --> 00:42:32,440 will have images of that, and those will then be recovered, will hopefully survive the re-entry 439 00:42:32,440 --> 00:42:38,980 and be recovered. So that will be definitely a vary interesting time. 440 00:42:38,980 --> 00:42:45,190 As you mentioned this is the final ATV that there is in the plan. Has this program met 441 00:42:45,190 --> 00:42:48,390 goals that ESA set out for it? 442 00:42:48,390 --> 00:42:53,480 Oh, I think so, yea, definitely. Well, first of all, all the ATVs, all five of them, have 443 00:42:53,480 --> 00:43:00,150 been extremely successful, actually, you know, in terms of performance in their mission exceeding 444 00:43:00,150 --> 00:43:06,579 all expectations, the, you know, one of the peculiarities of ATV is its ability to dock 445 00:43:06,579 --> 00:43:11,790 in fully automatic way, that is not the case for the other vehicles, you know, Dragon or 446 00:43:11,790 --> 00:43:17,630 Cygnus they come close to the space station and put the selves in some, in a sort of formation 447 00:43:17,630 --> 00:43:23,010 flight about ten meters from the station and then the astronauts or crew members have to 448 00:43:23,010 --> 00:43:27,660 go and grab them with a robotic arm and will be berth them to the space station. And same 449 00:43:27,660 --> 00:43:31,710 thing when they depart we actually have to unberth them with the arm and then they will 450 00:43:31,710 --> 00:43:39,579 give a burn and leave. ATV does all that automatically, we still observe it form inside, we are trained 451 00:43:39,579 --> 00:43:44,550 crew members to monitor the rendezvous and intervene if something goes wrong, but there 452 00:43:44,550 --> 00:43:50,420 was never a need to intervene, in fact all ATV have come in extremely, extremely precisely, 453 00:43:50,420 --> 00:43:56,150 you know, at a precision within the order of magnitude of centimeters, and so that is 454 00:43:56,150 --> 00:44:05,440 a very interesting technology and very important, I guess instrumental for future exploration, 455 00:44:05,440 --> 00:44:11,369 you know, if we have to build something in the future in orbit that has to build itself 456 00:44:11,369 --> 00:44:18,369 automatically and then maybe be ready for a crew to come in, this ability to dock with 457 00:44:18,480 --> 00:44:25,290 extremely high precision is very important and ATV has definitely proven that's possible. 458 00:44:25,290 --> 00:44:30,220 And then of course, you know, it has supplied, i mean ATV have supplied about seven tons 459 00:44:30,220 --> 00:44:35,420 of cargo to the space station on each flight, so definitely a success. 460 00:44:35,420 --> 00:44:39,859 What are you most looking forward to, about this experience? 461 00:44:39,859 --> 00:44:47,579 Ehm, I think... you know, I could pick many things but I think it will be diminutive. 462 00:44:47,589 --> 00:44:53,170 I think what I'm really looking forward is the experience as a whole: turn myself into 463 00:44:53,170 --> 00:44:58,829 a "space human", you know. We, you know, we are all born in this planet, you know, we 464 00:44:58,829 --> 00:45:04,550 grew up, our parents and adults in our lifestyle help us into becoming adult human beings and, 465 00:45:04,550 --> 00:45:11,550 you now, we are all adapted to be earth-bound human beings and, you know, by the time you're 466 00:45:11,650 --> 00:45:18,650 my age, mature adult, we are all very adapted to this, there are very few surprises, uhm... 467 00:45:20,400 --> 00:45:27,559 and then you find yourself in this completely different environment where you float around 468 00:45:27,559 --> 00:45:33,420 all day and this seems... you know, it has this fun component, you know, you're floating 469 00:45:33,420 --> 00:45:38,420 around all day but it also means you have to relearn a lot of basic skills, you know, 470 00:45:38,420 --> 00:45:42,809 from, you know, the really basic skills that a child has to learn, how to use the restroom, 471 00:45:42,809 --> 00:45:47,510 the toilet, you have to relearn that, I mean. I'm pretty sure is gonna be challenging 472 00:45:47,510 --> 00:45:52,099 the first days: how to set up your work environment, how to organize your life; and it's not only 473 00:45:52,099 --> 00:45:58,270 the microgravity, it's the Space Station environment, right, that's quite complex. I think that 474 00:45:58,270 --> 00:46:03,250 at the beginning there is a pretty big learning curve where you can put together all the stuff, 475 00:46:03,250 --> 00:46:08,339 all the things that people have tried to teach over the years, but also the stuff that you're 476 00:46:08,339 --> 00:46:15,210 learning day by day from your more experienced crew mates or just by making mistakes, I guess. 477 00:46:15,210 --> 00:46:22,210 And then I think you progressively turn yourself into this human being that is adapted to living 478 00:46:22,329 --> 00:46:26,329 in space and living in the International Space Station, and people say it it takes about 479 00:46:26,329 --> 00:46:30,430 a couple of months until they sort of reach that, you know, the curve sort of flattens 480 00:46:30,430 --> 00:46:37,430 out and I'm just looking forward to experiencing that and observing myself as I grow into a 481 00:46:37,430 --> 00:46:39,200 space human. 482 00:46:39,200 --> 00:46:45,000 As you think about what you're gonna do, what would you say it is that we are learning from 483 00:46:45,000 --> 00:46:51,869 this mission to the International Space Station that is helping prepare us for future exploration? 484 00:46:51,880 --> 00:46:59,742 Ah... I think quite a lot actually, uhm... sometimes people look at, especially if they 485 00:46:59,760 --> 00:47:04,319 are not too familiar, right, to the space program that I will look at it and say "Uh, 486 00:47:04,319 --> 00:47:09,960 you know, we went to the Moon in the 60s and what have we done since then?" You know, we 487 00:47:09,960 --> 00:47:16,550 never as far again and I'm like actually challenging that point of view because, yes, it's true 488 00:47:16,550 --> 00:47:20,630 that there was this great human adventure, you know, Apollo and going to the Moon in 489 00:47:20,630 --> 00:47:26,800 the sixties and early seventies, however, you know, those crews went, stayed for a very 490 00:47:26,800 --> 00:47:32,430 short time and came back, and all of the time, not quite being sure whether it would work 491 00:47:32,430 --> 00:47:39,130 out or not, with a pretty big risk factor. What we're doing now and what we've done in 492 00:47:39,130 --> 00:47:45,700 the past 15 years is robust operations: we have learned how to conduct operations in 493 00:47:45,700 --> 00:47:53,579 Low Earth Orbit in a continuous manner for 15 years, uhm, with an increasing level of 494 00:47:53,579 --> 00:47:58,619 complexity. I mean, people really should not underestimate the complexity of the Space 495 00:47:58,619 --> 00:48:06,279 Station environment, I mean, the technical complexity of this huge outpost of humanity 496 00:48:06,290 --> 00:48:10,780 in space. I mean, it's just amazing, I mean, it's worth of a science fiction book, really, 497 00:48:10,780 --> 00:48:18,099 I mean there's... And the fact that we can run robust operations for so long and involving 498 00:48:18,099 --> 00:48:25,099 so many, you know, international agencies and countries, if we want to conduct further 499 00:48:27,020 --> 00:48:34,020 exploration in a robust manner, those are all lessons that we needed to learn, and I 500 00:48:34,020 --> 00:48:37,020 think it would be invaluable for anything we wanna do in the future.