Training for the stars: Rosemary Coogan on becoming an astronaut

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Hello, and welcome to the Physics World Stories

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podcast.

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I'm Andrew Glester. And back in 2022,

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the European Space Agency

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announced its first new recruits to the astronaut

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program in thirteen years.

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Among those new astronauts was Rosemarie Coogan, an

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astrophysicist

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born

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in Northern Ireland.

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Now deep into her training, Rosemarie and her

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colleagues

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are slated to go to space to the

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International Space Station

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between 2026

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and 2030.

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With that mission on the horizon

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and a potential mission to the moon with

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the Artemis missions in the future, I managed

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to grab half an hour with Rosemarie among

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her busy schedule of learning

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Russian, going into the pool in Houston, Texas

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that the astronauts use to train for space

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walks when they are at the International Space

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Station,

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and everything else that is involved in her

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training. And I began by asking her whether

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this had always been something that she'd hoped

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to do. I think I I started thinking,

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oh, maybe I'll become an astronaut already when

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I was absolutely teeny tiny. I can't even

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remember really when the idea was kind of

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when it first came to be. As long

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as I can remember, I've always wanted to

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be an astronaut. I mean, I was interested

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in lots of other things. There's a lot

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of cool jobs out there, a lot of

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things that I think are are really important.

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But, yeah, always growing up, I thought, yes.

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Of course. Being an astronaut would be one

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of the the best things I could do.

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And it it it was always kind of

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something in the back of my mind in

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a way,

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because I didn't really see the opportunity

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exactly how that path would go. So I

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really kind of occupied myself with following other

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things that I love, studying

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science, studying space.

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And then,

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I think I must have been 30

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when the call for applications came out,

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and it was just really lucky that it

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was kind of the right time in my

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career, the right time in my life.

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And then the opportunity came up from ESA,

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and I went for it. So, you know,

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it's it's always in the back of your

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mind. When you were thinking, I'm gonna do

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astrophysics, was it sort of thinking maybe one

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day there might be a call for ESA

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astronauts? Or were you just thinking, do you

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know what? Space. I'll do that.

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If I'm being honest, I just I just

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wanted to study space. You know, of course,

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it'd be great to be an astronaut, but

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particularly when I was making those decisions,

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the profile of an astronaut was was a

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bit narrower, we can say. You know, this

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selection of ESA astronauts, we've really seen it

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kind of broaden to to scientists rather than

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people who are kind of necessarily pilots or

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so.

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So, really, I just thought, you know, I

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would love to learn more about space. I'm

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gonna go for that. And, of course, you

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know, you always stay open to anything and

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everything that can come your way on your

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on your path. Yeah.

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You are a physicist. Can you tell us

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what you studied when you were studying physics?

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Yeah. So I did my,

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I did a master's degree at Durham University

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in physics and astrophysics.

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So it did have a little bit of

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a slant on astrophysics,

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but it was essentially a physics degree. And

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in the final year or so, I thought

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that's the kind of direction I want to

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specialize in.

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And then I went on to do, a

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second masters and a PhD in more research.

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So that was specializing just in astrophysics and

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mainly looking at distant galaxy evolution.

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So looking first at how you see galaxies

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at very short wavelengths in gamma rays, very

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energetic parts of galaxies,

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and then later on for my PhD looking

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at kind of how galaxies interact with each

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other in different environments using all different telescopes

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and different wavelengths. Yeah. What what did you

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find?

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Well, it's it's really interesting because, a galaxy

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by itself,

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we can say, with no other galaxies nearby,

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creates stars often in a a very kind

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of steady, predictable way. But when you get

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lots of galaxies in a galaxy group or

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a galaxy cluster, they start to interact with

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each other, and that can really they can

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interact with each other's gas, and that's what

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makes stars. And you can get these kind

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of star bursts, it's called.

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So I found that fascinating.

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Yeah. No. It's amazing, isn't it? Did you

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like, if this hadn't come along, did you

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have something else that you were gonna look

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into afterwards? Or

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It was something I was thinking about quite

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heavy at the time. This this idea of

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how to

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perhaps combine what I was already doing, being

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being a scientist,

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with this other side of space. I almost

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think now that there's the the research side

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of space and then

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the exploration side of space, which actually focuses

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on much different types of science,

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people physically going there. And I was thinking

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about, particularly with ESA,

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looking into if I could do research there,

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if that could also expose me to the

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mission control side of things,

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the the telescopes themselves, the the missions behind

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those.

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Yeah. So I think there were lots of

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really, really interesting pathways within space and

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the the space sector. I sorry. I have

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a question which might because because I'm a

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lecturer in my, day job, and,

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I was I had a meeting with one

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of my students today, and she's doing her

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research into

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the portrayal of scientists

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in science fiction with a view to how

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that,

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how society

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sees

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scientists. Right? Three science. Are you a science

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fiction fan?

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Yes. Okay. Very short time.

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Okay. So she wanted me to ask you

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as somebody who is, you know, inspiring

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young people into

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space and physics and and science.

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Other people are characters from fiction

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from science fiction perhaps that inspired you when

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you were,

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younger or now even? Oh, that is a

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really good question.

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I think

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I wouldn't say there was a particular

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character that in inspired me.

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But I do love science fiction, and I

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I find

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it's it's kind of an interesting thing. I

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think particularly in my role, and I I

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think you've had some similar discussions if I've

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understood,

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some of your work as well about how

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realistic science fiction is,

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how that feeds into

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our opinions on science and exploration and all

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of these things.

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And I tend to be of the side

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where

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I don't mind too much how realistic something

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is. I actually find that just almost everything

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I read in terms of science fiction, it

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just makes you think about the possibility of

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what could be. Know, even if it's not

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in something that is not kind of possible

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now or would only be possible if, you

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know, a few small things were different. I

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just find the whole getting lost in that

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other world of possibilities, not necessarily aligning with

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certain characters, but just

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yeah. Those visions

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are a great kind of So more reading

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than watching science fiction? Or

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Probably a bit of both. Yeah. I think

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some of the things that have really grabbed

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me have been particularly books.

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But I I love a science fiction movie

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just as anything else. Yeah.

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Do you? Do you? Can you take books?

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I mean, maybe you take a Kindle with

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you or something to

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to to space when you go.

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I mean,

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can you take books? Is it I I

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mean, I think you can. Yes. But they're

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heavy,

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unfortunately. Per, you know, per book, they're heavy.

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So I think a lot of the reading

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material is electronic.

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Yeah. It can be uploaded, actually. We have

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some fantastic teams on the ground ahead of

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crew support teams who upload material regularly for

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astronauts, and that can be films or you

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know, newspapers and books as well. So, yeah,

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you can definitely read in space, but I

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think

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as much as I love the feel of

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a real book,

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in terms of yeah. You can maybe bring

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you can maybe bring one or electronically, you

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can,

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yeah,

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reach your heart sometimes.

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Yeah. Would you would you read science fiction

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on on like, if you're on the International

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Space Station, do you think you'd, like, read

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science fiction or

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something else?

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I I'm not the I'm not the kind

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of person I think who gets kind of

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too

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spaced out. I think I could very happily

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be in space and read about space at

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the same time.

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But I also love kind of classic novels,

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things that are, you know, just stories of

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people's lives,

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and I think that could be a nice,

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a nice change of scene. And I wonder

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if

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perhaps on the ISS as well because one

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of the things is being quite isolated from

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other people, whether really just kind of reading

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some of those classic novels is maybe a

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way to also feel as though you're connecting

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with another side of things that you maybe

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don't have on the ISS.

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Yeah. I was wondering about that because it's

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very,

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well, I think I've heard heard you say

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it's inside. Right? Space is mostly inside.

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When you're on the ISS, yeah, it is

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very much mostly inside. I think it's set

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to show. You know, lucky enough to have

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the opportunity to do an EVA.

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Yeah. It is it's a completely closed environment,

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isolated kind of physically in that sense. Of

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course, with the technology have we have now,

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it's it's possible to to call, even video

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call down to family and friends.

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But you are very much living and working

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in this small environment with a a subset

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of people.

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Though so that sorry. I'll move on to

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something else in a second, but there must

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be some films that you don't want to

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watch on the International Space Station. Right?

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Probably.

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I'd love to get some of my, colleagues'

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opinions on that. I'm sure this is a

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discussion

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mission. Yeah. Yeah.

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I'm

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I'm thinking you don't wanna watch Gravity. I

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think that's probably a no no. I think

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probably snakes on a plane you don't wanna

274
00:09:44,235 --> 00:09:46,250
watch as well. That's probably not something. But

275
00:09:46,250 --> 00:09:49,470
that's true of all times. Looking Brian Curtin

276
00:09:49,610 --> 00:09:50,269
very suspiciously.

277
00:09:51,049 --> 00:09:51,549
Yeah.

278
00:09:51,929 --> 00:09:54,750
Absolutely. Right. So is there any way

279
00:09:55,129 --> 00:09:57,929
that your research that you've been doing is

280
00:09:57,929 --> 00:10:00,129
related to your job as a as a

281
00:10:00,250 --> 00:10:00,914
as an astronaut?

282
00:10:01,875 --> 00:10:02,855
There are some,

283
00:10:03,315 --> 00:10:03,815
astrophysics

284
00:10:04,355 --> 00:10:06,214
experiments on the ISS.

285
00:10:07,074 --> 00:10:08,914
But, really, what I think is very special

286
00:10:08,914 --> 00:10:12,034
about the ISS is how much really broad

287
00:10:12,034 --> 00:10:14,695
science it covers that has a very direct

288
00:10:14,754 --> 00:10:16,534
impact on our lives on Earth.

289
00:10:17,399 --> 00:10:19,580
And I would say in that sense that

290
00:10:19,639 --> 00:10:21,399
my kind of previous role and the work

291
00:10:21,399 --> 00:10:22,299
I was doing,

292
00:10:22,759 --> 00:10:25,480
it feeds much more into the the skill

293
00:10:25,480 --> 00:10:27,559
set that an astronaut needs to have, kind

294
00:10:27,559 --> 00:10:30,524
of problem solving and perhaps that that approach

295
00:10:31,004 --> 00:10:32,705
to to science rather than

296
00:10:33,165 --> 00:10:35,565
physically needing to know the the details of

297
00:10:35,565 --> 00:10:37,504
of astrophysics and galaxy evolution.

298
00:10:38,445 --> 00:10:40,684
We had a really interesting few months during

299
00:10:40,684 --> 00:10:41,585
basic training.

300
00:10:42,205 --> 00:10:44,365
The first, thirteen months of our training was

301
00:10:44,445 --> 00:10:46,440
it's called basic training, and it's something that

302
00:10:46,440 --> 00:10:48,840
all all agencies have to get to make

303
00:10:48,840 --> 00:10:50,440
sure that everyone has the the sort of

304
00:10:50,440 --> 00:10:52,220
the an international syllabus.

305
00:10:53,160 --> 00:10:55,720
A lot of it was learning about all

306
00:10:55,720 --> 00:10:57,879
different types of sciences, perhaps for, you know,

307
00:10:57,879 --> 00:10:59,804
one week astrophysics, one week

308
00:11:00,205 --> 00:11:03,485
human biology, one week meteorology, one week climate

309
00:11:03,485 --> 00:11:04,464
and earth science,

310
00:11:05,085 --> 00:11:06,544
to give us this background,

311
00:11:07,325 --> 00:11:09,085
to because we all come from completely different

312
00:11:09,085 --> 00:11:10,684
backgrounds to make sure everyone has the same

313
00:11:10,684 --> 00:11:12,924
level of understanding of what will actually be

314
00:11:12,924 --> 00:11:14,284
the background of what we do on the

315
00:11:14,284 --> 00:11:14,784
ISS.

316
00:11:15,730 --> 00:11:16,850
So I thought that was a a really,

317
00:11:16,850 --> 00:11:18,769
really nice thing to do. Because that's not

318
00:11:18,769 --> 00:11:20,789
the sort of thing that gets reported on

319
00:11:20,850 --> 00:11:22,870
as much, is it? That that sort of,

320
00:11:23,490 --> 00:11:25,089
that learning you're doing as part of your

321
00:11:25,089 --> 00:11:27,649
training. Yeah. I mean, of course, basic training

322
00:11:27,649 --> 00:11:30,154
also, we had winter survival training and training

323
00:11:31,495 --> 00:11:32,475
and water training survival,

324
00:11:33,654 --> 00:11:34,154
firefighting,

325
00:11:34,695 --> 00:11:36,375
centrifuge. And these are the sorts of things

326
00:11:36,375 --> 00:11:37,975
that kind of really get picked up and

327
00:11:37,975 --> 00:11:40,695
aborted because, you know, there's pictures of us

328
00:11:40,695 --> 00:11:42,535
outside and doing things. But a lot of

329
00:11:42,535 --> 00:11:44,555
our basic training was spent in the classroom,

330
00:11:44,690 --> 00:11:46,289
yeah, which isn't kind of talked about as

331
00:11:46,289 --> 00:11:48,610
much. No. No. It wouldn't be. Yeah. But

332
00:11:48,610 --> 00:11:50,470
we're talking about it now, so it's fine.

333
00:11:50,769 --> 00:11:53,649
So what why winter survival training? What what's

334
00:11:53,649 --> 00:11:54,309
that about?

335
00:11:54,929 --> 00:11:56,230
It's actually because,

336
00:11:57,169 --> 00:11:59,809
when you come down from from space, from

337
00:11:59,809 --> 00:12:00,389
a mission,

338
00:12:00,904 --> 00:12:03,625
you have very much a a designated kind

339
00:12:03,625 --> 00:12:06,184
of landing area. You know where you're you're

340
00:12:06,184 --> 00:12:07,644
aiming for in your capsule.

341
00:12:08,345 --> 00:12:10,825
But you can never guarantee that that's exactly

342
00:12:10,825 --> 00:12:12,125
where you're going to land.

343
00:12:13,319 --> 00:12:15,980
So kind of a very very cold environment,

344
00:12:16,360 --> 00:12:17,899
being quite a difficult

345
00:12:18,279 --> 00:12:20,679
climate, a difficult place to live, the idea

346
00:12:20,679 --> 00:12:23,019
is that if you do end up landing

347
00:12:23,319 --> 00:12:26,115
somewhere very hostile like that, and it takes

348
00:12:26,595 --> 00:12:28,514
the the rescue teams, the teams who come

349
00:12:28,514 --> 00:12:29,654
and meet you on grounds,

350
00:12:30,355 --> 00:12:32,195
hours or maybe even days to come and

351
00:12:32,195 --> 00:12:33,735
get you and your crew from the capsule.

352
00:12:34,034 --> 00:12:36,195
You just need to be able to look

353
00:12:36,195 --> 00:12:38,754
after yourselves, look after each other, and survive

354
00:12:38,754 --> 00:12:39,254
them.

355
00:12:40,220 --> 00:12:42,379
So it's really just the the practicalities of

356
00:12:42,379 --> 00:12:44,620
coming back. And the the same for for

357
00:12:44,620 --> 00:12:46,879
water survival. It's all about the the landings.

358
00:12:47,740 --> 00:12:49,980
Okay. But there's I mean, there's the pool

359
00:12:49,980 --> 00:12:52,139
as well. I just think that looks amazing.

360
00:12:52,139 --> 00:12:54,220
Is it as amazing as it looks doing

361
00:12:54,220 --> 00:12:56,144
that kind of pool training with the the

362
00:12:56,144 --> 00:12:59,264
model ISS under the water? Yeah. It was

363
00:12:59,264 --> 00:13:01,825
it was really, really special. I finished that,

364
00:13:02,144 --> 00:13:03,985
just at the June

365
00:13:03,985 --> 00:13:07,125
this year. I was in Houston at, Johnston

366
00:13:07,185 --> 00:13:09,269
Space Center for seven months

367
00:13:09,750 --> 00:13:13,129
doing that, EVA training. And it really was,

368
00:13:13,670 --> 00:13:16,410
yeah. It is it is pretty magical because,

369
00:13:16,629 --> 00:13:18,629
you know, you are underwater, and you have

370
00:13:18,629 --> 00:13:20,629
you have a a team of divers who

371
00:13:20,629 --> 00:13:23,509
who essentially adjust your buoyancy. So you're in

372
00:13:23,509 --> 00:13:25,845
the the EMU suit, the, the suit that

373
00:13:25,845 --> 00:13:27,524
you use to do an EVA outside the

374
00:13:27,524 --> 00:13:30,004
station, what people think of as very typically

375
00:13:30,004 --> 00:13:30,904
the the spacesuit.

376
00:13:31,524 --> 00:13:33,684
And, of course, that's very heavy. So you

377
00:13:33,684 --> 00:13:35,205
need to add a lot of float and

378
00:13:35,205 --> 00:13:37,684
buoyancy to it to get that floating. That

379
00:13:37,684 --> 00:13:39,524
means you're you're moving like you would in

380
00:13:39,524 --> 00:13:40,024
microgravity.

381
00:13:41,259 --> 00:13:42,860
And so there's this whole team of people

382
00:13:42,860 --> 00:13:44,299
who are who are doing that, and the

383
00:13:44,299 --> 00:13:46,639
end result really is that you are floating,

384
00:13:48,059 --> 00:13:50,799
in what looks very much like space,

385
00:13:51,179 --> 00:13:53,339
you know, learning really how to move around

386
00:13:53,339 --> 00:13:54,799
the outside of the ISS,

387
00:13:55,315 --> 00:13:55,815
practicing

388
00:13:56,195 --> 00:13:57,334
installing things,

389
00:13:57,875 --> 00:14:00,195
obviously, you know, keeping yourself and your teammates

390
00:14:00,195 --> 00:14:02,115
safe, a lot of protocol around that. It's

391
00:14:02,115 --> 00:14:02,615
really,

392
00:14:02,995 --> 00:14:05,334
yeah, it's a really, really immersive experience.

393
00:14:06,355 --> 00:14:08,434
How do the people in the water adjust

394
00:14:08,434 --> 00:14:09,095
your buoyancy?

395
00:14:09,720 --> 00:14:11,159
Yes. It's I mean, it's very it's very

396
00:14:11,159 --> 00:14:13,799
simple in theory. They literally just put floats

397
00:14:13,799 --> 00:14:16,039
onto you, kind of, you know you know,

398
00:14:16,039 --> 00:14:18,379
yeah, pieces of, foam and and

399
00:14:18,839 --> 00:14:19,720
and blocks of,

400
00:14:20,200 --> 00:14:22,664
blocks that float and that, increase your your

401
00:14:22,664 --> 00:14:24,264
buoyancy. And they have different weights, and they

402
00:14:24,264 --> 00:14:25,544
can you can put them in your chest

403
00:14:25,544 --> 00:14:26,924
and in your ankles.

404
00:14:28,184 --> 00:14:29,945
So although in theory, it's kind of very

405
00:14:29,945 --> 00:14:31,384
easy to put a float on somebody and

406
00:14:31,384 --> 00:14:34,440
make them float, it's a very delicate art

407
00:14:34,679 --> 00:14:37,399
underwater for the teams to constantly adjust your

408
00:14:37,399 --> 00:14:39,399
buoyancy so that when you move body position,

409
00:14:39,399 --> 00:14:40,759
you might go up and down in the

410
00:14:40,759 --> 00:14:43,419
pool because you're moving around the space station.

411
00:14:44,039 --> 00:14:45,820
To keep that consistent is

412
00:14:46,360 --> 00:14:48,759
is, yeah, quite a thing. But in theory,

413
00:14:48,759 --> 00:14:50,705
you know, it's just your your suit plus

414
00:14:50,705 --> 00:14:51,205
the

415
00:14:51,664 --> 00:14:54,544
plus the buoyancy plus the the floats. The

416
00:14:54,544 --> 00:14:56,144
the astronauts who've done that and, obviously, they

417
00:14:56,144 --> 00:14:58,384
haven't been to the ISS, do they say

418
00:14:58,384 --> 00:15:01,825
that that's, you know, a good approximation of

419
00:15:01,825 --> 00:15:02,325
it?

420
00:15:03,340 --> 00:15:05,759
Yeah. There are there are some interesting differences.

421
00:15:06,059 --> 00:15:07,740
So it's I think it's a very good

422
00:15:07,740 --> 00:15:10,559
approximation of it. One of the big differences

423
00:15:11,340 --> 00:15:14,299
is that although you're floating, you still have

424
00:15:14,299 --> 00:15:14,799
gravity.

425
00:15:15,215 --> 00:15:17,695
So if you turn upside down, the blood

426
00:15:17,695 --> 00:15:19,075
will rush to your head.

427
00:15:19,695 --> 00:15:22,735
So you don't have as much freedom about

428
00:15:22,735 --> 00:15:25,054
choosing exactly what position you put your body

429
00:15:25,054 --> 00:15:27,054
in. And a lot of the the the

430
00:15:27,054 --> 00:15:29,409
trainers say, do think to yourself, when I

431
00:15:29,409 --> 00:15:31,990
approach this worksite, when I install this item,

432
00:15:32,209 --> 00:15:33,409
would you want to be like this, or,

433
00:15:33,409 --> 00:15:34,769
actually, would you want to be kind of

434
00:15:34,769 --> 00:15:37,329
upside down in space? So do think about

435
00:15:37,329 --> 00:15:38,870
the the differences there.

436
00:15:40,209 --> 00:15:42,105
And some parts are harder in the pool.

437
00:15:42,105 --> 00:15:44,985
You know, moving against the water, kind of

438
00:15:44,985 --> 00:15:47,004
that drag is more difficult.

439
00:15:47,625 --> 00:15:50,024
But then, of course, when you're in space,

440
00:15:50,024 --> 00:15:52,024
you have these these tethers and things that

441
00:15:52,024 --> 00:15:54,504
just float about like crazy. And at least

442
00:15:54,504 --> 00:15:56,610
in the water, they don't they float, but

443
00:15:56,610 --> 00:15:58,870
they're not kind of absolute spaghetti,

444
00:15:59,889 --> 00:16:02,470
kind of out of control. So there's there's

445
00:16:02,529 --> 00:16:04,050
things that are easier and things that are

446
00:16:04,050 --> 00:16:04,550
harder.

447
00:16:05,410 --> 00:16:07,889
But, overall, a very good approximation. Really good

448
00:16:07,889 --> 00:16:08,389
training.

449
00:16:09,009 --> 00:16:11,634
Mhmm. Yeah. I'm jealous. I'm very, very jealous

450
00:16:11,634 --> 00:16:12,514
of that. I don't want to go to

451
00:16:12,514 --> 00:16:13,715
space, but I do want to get in

452
00:16:13,715 --> 00:16:15,815
that pool. No. Yeah. Well, scared the screens.

453
00:16:16,274 --> 00:16:18,434
No. I don't think so. I don't think

454
00:16:18,434 --> 00:16:19,955
so. It's not for me. I'm I'm more

455
00:16:19,955 --> 00:16:21,554
of a stay at home kinda guy. The

456
00:16:21,554 --> 00:16:23,554
other thing which looks really amazing is the

457
00:16:23,634 --> 00:16:24,870
those parabolic flights.

458
00:16:40,835 --> 00:16:42,195
Right. Because some people just do that and

459
00:16:42,195 --> 00:16:43,795
float around. Right? But you do that, and

460
00:16:43,795 --> 00:16:46,434
you're actually doing experiments as you would be

461
00:16:46,434 --> 00:16:48,934
in zero g or it is zero g.

462
00:16:50,355 --> 00:16:51,735
Yeah. The the first,

463
00:16:52,115 --> 00:16:53,495
the first few parabolas,

464
00:16:53,879 --> 00:16:56,040
because, what you have on a parabolic flight

465
00:16:56,040 --> 00:16:57,100
is many, many,

466
00:16:57,639 --> 00:17:00,440
parabolas. So you have twenty two seconds of

467
00:17:00,440 --> 00:17:01,340
this floating,

468
00:17:01,799 --> 00:17:02,519
of this,

469
00:17:03,480 --> 00:17:04,460
reduced gravity.

470
00:17:05,320 --> 00:17:07,664
But between every twenty two seconds, the the

471
00:17:07,664 --> 00:17:09,184
plane does another maneuver and you come back

472
00:17:09,184 --> 00:17:10,944
down. So you get very short periods of

473
00:17:10,944 --> 00:17:11,845
time for practice,

474
00:17:12,224 --> 00:17:13,744
over the course of a a couple of

475
00:17:13,744 --> 00:17:16,144
hours of flight. So the first few were

476
00:17:16,144 --> 00:17:19,045
really focused on just kind of moving, understanding

477
00:17:19,345 --> 00:17:21,960
that you don't wanna try and swim. That's

478
00:17:21,960 --> 00:17:23,960
not gonna work. You have to kind of

479
00:17:23,960 --> 00:17:26,519
gently push yourself off of objects, but only

480
00:17:26,519 --> 00:17:28,599
gently because otherwise you'll be whizzing all over

481
00:17:28,599 --> 00:17:29,179
the place.

482
00:17:30,200 --> 00:17:32,759
And after that, yeah, it focused much more

483
00:17:32,759 --> 00:17:33,259
on,

484
00:17:34,724 --> 00:17:37,545
for example, kind of using using kind of

485
00:17:37,845 --> 00:17:40,325
electric drills because you want to make sure

486
00:17:40,325 --> 00:17:42,404
that you secure yourself properly so that you're

487
00:17:42,404 --> 00:17:43,845
not spinning round and round and round. You

488
00:17:43,845 --> 00:17:45,365
want the drill to be spinning round and

489
00:17:45,365 --> 00:17:46,484
round and round, and you need to be

490
00:17:46,484 --> 00:17:48,244
in one fixed place, which is easier said

491
00:17:48,244 --> 00:17:48,984
than done.

492
00:17:49,580 --> 00:17:51,119
We did a bit of kind of practicing

493
00:17:51,259 --> 00:17:54,299
CPR because, again, you can't really push down

494
00:17:54,299 --> 00:17:55,900
because you all just float up. You need

495
00:17:55,900 --> 00:17:57,200
to secure your body.

496
00:17:57,900 --> 00:17:59,440
And then we did a few experiments

497
00:18:00,299 --> 00:18:02,144
in what's called the the glove box

498
00:18:02,625 --> 00:18:04,384
where you, yeah, you have your hands inside

499
00:18:04,384 --> 00:18:06,724
a glove box. It's a completely sealed environment

500
00:18:06,785 --> 00:18:09,105
for either very sensitive experiments or things that

501
00:18:09,105 --> 00:18:11,184
could be toxic if they're released. So, yeah,

502
00:18:11,184 --> 00:18:12,164
we really practiced

503
00:18:12,545 --> 00:18:13,445
the the practicalities

504
00:18:13,904 --> 00:18:15,424
of of how different it is to do

505
00:18:15,424 --> 00:18:16,964
all of those things in that environment.

506
00:18:18,809 --> 00:18:19,309
So,

507
00:18:19,609 --> 00:18:21,130
presumably, part of your training, and maybe you

508
00:18:21,130 --> 00:18:22,650
already know this sort of stuff, but it's

509
00:18:22,650 --> 00:18:24,490
to do with first aid and if people

510
00:18:24,490 --> 00:18:26,250
are ill, then you'll have to look at

511
00:18:26,329 --> 00:18:28,009
like, some what happens if somebody gets ill

512
00:18:28,009 --> 00:18:29,549
on the international space station?

513
00:18:29,849 --> 00:18:32,089
It depends on on what kind of illness

514
00:18:32,089 --> 00:18:34,525
they have. I mean, we we all have,

515
00:18:34,924 --> 00:18:36,705
we've all had the kind of a basic

516
00:18:36,765 --> 00:18:39,325
course in the the changes that our body

517
00:18:39,325 --> 00:18:40,305
is gonna undergo,

518
00:18:41,485 --> 00:18:44,125
things like putting stitches in. If, you know,

519
00:18:44,125 --> 00:18:45,725
you you knock your head on something, you

520
00:18:45,725 --> 00:18:47,565
know, we're we're trained in kind of minor

521
00:18:47,565 --> 00:18:49,059
things like that. I guess you'd call it

522
00:18:49,059 --> 00:18:50,039
just first aid.

523
00:18:50,820 --> 00:18:53,059
But one of the interesting things about the

524
00:18:53,059 --> 00:18:55,960
the ISS is how much it has improved

525
00:18:56,099 --> 00:18:56,599
telemedicine.

526
00:18:57,460 --> 00:18:59,940
So, of course, on ground, we have amazing

527
00:18:59,940 --> 00:19:01,720
doctors, really knowledgeable people.

528
00:19:02,585 --> 00:19:04,105
And often, we will do a kind of

529
00:19:04,105 --> 00:19:06,105
a medical exam with people on the ground.

530
00:19:06,105 --> 00:19:07,464
So we have the equipment to show them

531
00:19:07,464 --> 00:19:09,644
with cameras or with ultrasound if something's

532
00:19:10,585 --> 00:19:11,644
not quite right.

533
00:19:12,345 --> 00:19:14,359
But if it is something really serious, of

534
00:19:14,359 --> 00:19:16,119
course, we don't have the the means to

535
00:19:16,119 --> 00:19:17,960
treat that up in up in space, and

536
00:19:17,960 --> 00:19:19,400
it would mean that we had to to

537
00:19:19,400 --> 00:19:21,080
come down as a as a crew very,

538
00:19:21,080 --> 00:19:21,740
very quickly.

539
00:19:22,279 --> 00:19:23,960
And that's one of the reasons why the

540
00:19:23,960 --> 00:19:24,460
selection

541
00:19:25,799 --> 00:19:28,119
for an astronaut focuses quite a lot on

542
00:19:28,119 --> 00:19:29,960
the medical side of things because you need

543
00:19:29,960 --> 00:19:31,234
to be somebody who

544
00:19:32,174 --> 00:19:34,815
just has a very small likelihood of becoming

545
00:19:34,815 --> 00:19:35,875
seriously ill

546
00:19:36,654 --> 00:19:38,654
in space because it is it is more

547
00:19:38,654 --> 00:19:39,714
difficult to treat.

548
00:19:40,494 --> 00:19:43,055
Okay. Yes. I'd never thought of that CPR

549
00:19:43,055 --> 00:19:44,654
thing. That's quite a thing, isn't it, that

550
00:19:44,654 --> 00:19:45,180
you would

551
00:19:45,740 --> 00:19:46,940
so what do you do then? Do you

552
00:19:46,940 --> 00:19:48,700
do you sort of I don't know. How

553
00:19:48,700 --> 00:19:49,820
do you do that? How do you do

554
00:19:49,820 --> 00:19:51,200
CPR on the ISS?

555
00:19:52,220 --> 00:19:54,380
A kind of a very popular choice is,

556
00:19:54,619 --> 00:19:56,619
so you have, obviously, the the person in

557
00:19:56,619 --> 00:19:57,600
need of care.

558
00:19:58,494 --> 00:20:00,095
We can call it on the floor for

559
00:20:00,095 --> 00:20:01,474
the pharmacist office.

560
00:20:02,015 --> 00:20:03,934
It's not quite right, is it? But Yeah.

561
00:20:04,095 --> 00:20:05,615
On the floor kind of on a on

562
00:20:05,615 --> 00:20:08,335
a bench. And you would turn yourself upside

563
00:20:08,335 --> 00:20:10,434
down and put your feet on the ceiling.

564
00:20:11,330 --> 00:20:12,809
So, obviously, it depends on what height you

565
00:20:12,809 --> 00:20:14,490
are. If you're very, very short or very,

566
00:20:14,490 --> 00:20:16,490
very tall, perhaps it's the the length isn't

567
00:20:16,490 --> 00:20:18,730
gonna be quite right, and use your feet

568
00:20:18,730 --> 00:20:20,890
to to push off against the ceiling and

569
00:20:20,890 --> 00:20:22,730
then put your hands kind of vertically down

570
00:20:22,730 --> 00:20:23,505
onto the chest.

571
00:20:24,224 --> 00:20:26,704
Right. Okay. Well, hopefully, that's not gonna happen

572
00:20:26,704 --> 00:20:27,984
when you go. So you don't need that.

573
00:20:27,984 --> 00:20:29,585
So it's fine. But at least you'll know

574
00:20:29,585 --> 00:20:31,105
what to do if it happens. That's the

575
00:20:31,105 --> 00:20:32,325
thing. Right? So,

576
00:20:33,345 --> 00:20:35,424
there there's another thing that you have to

577
00:20:35,424 --> 00:20:37,345
learn, I assume, which is languages. Are you

578
00:20:37,345 --> 00:20:38,160
any good at them?

579
00:20:38,960 --> 00:20:41,279
I'm trying my very best. I mean, I'm

580
00:20:41,279 --> 00:20:43,680
I'm not a a linguist by by training,

581
00:20:43,680 --> 00:20:45,539
but I think I think it's an incredible

582
00:20:45,599 --> 00:20:46,099
opportunity

583
00:20:46,480 --> 00:20:48,240
to be able to, to be able to

584
00:20:48,240 --> 00:20:49,299
learn different languages.

585
00:20:49,680 --> 00:20:51,599
You so quickly realize kind of the doors

586
00:20:51,599 --> 00:20:53,894
it opens to be able to speak with

587
00:20:53,894 --> 00:20:55,674
people in their native language,

588
00:20:56,215 --> 00:20:57,755
to to really show willing,

589
00:20:58,055 --> 00:20:58,775
as well as,

590
00:20:59,174 --> 00:21:01,115
obviously, the the need for it.

591
00:21:01,975 --> 00:21:04,215
So, yeah, learning Russian is still part of

592
00:21:04,215 --> 00:21:04,875
our syllabus.

593
00:21:05,590 --> 00:21:07,509
Of course, Roscosmos is a is a big

594
00:21:07,509 --> 00:21:09,990
partner in the ISS, and there's an agreement

595
00:21:09,990 --> 00:21:12,070
that everybody on the space station will speak

596
00:21:12,070 --> 00:21:13,529
both English and Russian.

597
00:21:14,070 --> 00:21:16,230
And that's the case also for our Japanese

598
00:21:16,230 --> 00:21:16,970
and Canadian

599
00:21:18,884 --> 00:21:19,625
space agency,

600
00:21:20,404 --> 00:21:20,904
colleagues.

601
00:21:21,365 --> 00:21:23,684
So, yes, it's it's certainly a challenge, but

602
00:21:23,684 --> 00:21:25,684
it's actually I mean, it's it's one of

603
00:21:25,684 --> 00:21:27,525
the the real pleasures of the training so

604
00:21:27,525 --> 00:21:30,005
far is just learning so many different things.

605
00:21:30,005 --> 00:21:31,285
You know, some of them I might have

606
00:21:31,285 --> 00:21:33,285
been a little bit familiar with beforehand, and

607
00:21:33,285 --> 00:21:35,690
some of them are completely brand new. And

608
00:21:35,690 --> 00:21:37,850
I absolutely love that, this kind of constant

609
00:21:37,850 --> 00:21:38,350
challenge.

610
00:21:38,809 --> 00:21:41,130
Yeah. It's amazing now. The one of the

611
00:21:41,130 --> 00:21:42,269
things that

612
00:21:44,009 --> 00:21:45,869
is changing, you mentioned this earlier,

613
00:21:46,890 --> 00:21:48,029
is the inclusivity

614
00:21:48,570 --> 00:21:49,789
within the space

615
00:21:50,465 --> 00:21:53,184
sector. And your your intake in particular had

616
00:21:53,184 --> 00:21:55,825
a a particular view to that. How important

617
00:21:55,825 --> 00:21:56,484
is that

618
00:21:56,865 --> 00:21:58,244
within space travel?

619
00:21:58,945 --> 00:22:01,045
It's really important. I mean,

620
00:22:01,825 --> 00:22:04,319
the the the kind of the differences of

621
00:22:04,400 --> 00:22:06,400
you know diversity can mean so many different

622
00:22:06,400 --> 00:22:07,779
things, right? You know it's

623
00:22:09,039 --> 00:22:09,539
it's

624
00:22:10,559 --> 00:22:11,440
and it really

625
00:22:12,079 --> 00:22:14,019
I think the the focus of the selection

626
00:22:14,960 --> 00:22:17,299
of Aesha in 2022

627
00:22:17,359 --> 00:22:17,714
was

628
00:22:18,994 --> 00:22:19,894
gender diversity

629
00:22:20,674 --> 00:22:23,015
as one of the points, but also really

630
00:22:23,075 --> 00:22:26,194
background diversity in terms of where you come

631
00:22:26,194 --> 00:22:28,534
from, what your approach to thing is

632
00:22:28,914 --> 00:22:31,789
approach to things is. And within a team,

633
00:22:31,929 --> 00:22:34,089
I mean, we see already the the five

634
00:22:34,089 --> 00:22:35,769
of us who are selected as as career

635
00:22:35,769 --> 00:22:38,509
astronauties, so we've been training together very intensively.

636
00:22:39,049 --> 00:22:41,210
And it's interesting because we have a lot

637
00:22:41,210 --> 00:22:42,349
of things in common,

638
00:22:42,835 --> 00:22:44,595
that are potentially kind of make us suitable

639
00:22:44,595 --> 00:22:45,575
for the role, but

640
00:22:46,355 --> 00:22:48,995
you already see actually people coming from different

641
00:22:48,995 --> 00:22:51,075
jobs, be it kind of military or scientific

642
00:22:51,075 --> 00:22:52,375
or medicine or engineering.

643
00:22:52,674 --> 00:22:55,075
Everyone just does things in a slightly different

644
00:22:55,075 --> 00:22:57,154
way and we can learn so much from

645
00:22:57,154 --> 00:22:57,815
each other.

646
00:22:58,869 --> 00:22:59,369
And,

647
00:22:59,750 --> 00:23:02,309
you know, diversity generally, it just brings so

648
00:23:02,309 --> 00:23:04,309
much to a team in terms of problem

649
00:23:04,309 --> 00:23:04,809
solving.

650
00:23:05,190 --> 00:23:06,710
And then, of course, you know, in terms

651
00:23:06,710 --> 00:23:09,429
of inspiring the next generations, you know, making

652
00:23:09,429 --> 00:23:10,650
sure that everybody,

653
00:23:11,115 --> 00:23:12,954
you know, growing up now deciding what they

654
00:23:12,954 --> 00:23:15,454
want to do with their with their careers,

655
00:23:15,914 --> 00:23:18,875
knows that, you know, there aren't certain jobs

656
00:23:18,875 --> 00:23:21,054
for certain small groups of people

657
00:23:21,595 --> 00:23:23,355
who've come up this kind of very narrow

658
00:23:23,355 --> 00:23:25,960
channel. There is not one way to to

659
00:23:25,960 --> 00:23:27,720
come to something. I think that's a really

660
00:23:27,720 --> 00:23:28,539
important thing

661
00:23:28,920 --> 00:23:29,420
to

662
00:23:29,880 --> 00:23:31,880
to talk about. But the the people who

663
00:23:31,880 --> 00:23:33,559
are growing up now aren't going to be

664
00:23:33,559 --> 00:23:35,559
able to be astronauts on the International Space

665
00:23:35,559 --> 00:23:37,160
Station, are they? Because that's coming to the

666
00:23:37,160 --> 00:23:37,845
end of life.

667
00:23:39,365 --> 00:23:42,085
Yeah. The the International Space Station will be

668
00:23:42,085 --> 00:23:44,825
coming to end its life, in 2030.

669
00:23:45,684 --> 00:23:47,525
But that doesn't mean that we're not gonna

670
00:23:47,525 --> 00:23:48,984
be in low Earth orbit anymore.

671
00:23:49,365 --> 00:23:50,884
You know, it's gonna it's gonna be a

672
00:23:50,884 --> 00:23:53,220
very different scene. You know, until now, it's

673
00:23:53,220 --> 00:23:55,539
been really focused on space stations that are

674
00:23:55,539 --> 00:23:57,480
built by governments and nations

675
00:23:57,779 --> 00:23:59,559
like the International Space Station.

676
00:24:00,420 --> 00:24:02,820
And it's gonna become very much kind of

677
00:24:02,820 --> 00:24:05,384
commercialized. There's a lot of commercial companies now

678
00:24:05,384 --> 00:24:07,065
who want to put a station into low

679
00:24:07,065 --> 00:24:08,505
earth orbit because they, you know, they really

680
00:24:08,505 --> 00:24:09,644
see the value in it.

681
00:24:10,664 --> 00:24:13,384
And it's gonna be a complete shift at

682
00:24:13,384 --> 00:24:15,244
that point about how these

683
00:24:15,785 --> 00:24:16,285
commercial

684
00:24:16,744 --> 00:24:17,244
companies

685
00:24:18,025 --> 00:24:21,210
run their space stations, how ESA, for example,

686
00:24:22,710 --> 00:24:24,309
gets involved with that. I very, you know,

687
00:24:24,309 --> 00:24:25,990
very much will still be involved with low

688
00:24:25,990 --> 00:24:27,589
Earth orbit, and there will be agreements made,

689
00:24:27,589 --> 00:24:29,429
but it's a completely different way of doing

690
00:24:29,429 --> 00:24:30,250
things. So

691
00:24:30,710 --> 00:24:32,630
but, you know, there there still very much

692
00:24:32,630 --> 00:24:34,914
will be astronauts in low Earth orbit. It's

693
00:24:34,914 --> 00:24:36,275
just gonna be a a different way of

694
00:24:36,275 --> 00:24:38,115
doing it. So when you,

695
00:24:38,674 --> 00:24:41,894
came into the astronaut corps in 2022,

696
00:24:42,434 --> 00:24:44,214
it was talked about that,

697
00:24:44,674 --> 00:24:47,075
you might have a a mission or you

698
00:24:47,075 --> 00:24:48,055
and your fellow

699
00:24:48,460 --> 00:24:50,700
astronauts might have a mission to the International

700
00:24:50,700 --> 00:24:53,019
Space Station from 2026

701
00:24:53,019 --> 00:24:53,980
to 2030.

702
00:24:53,980 --> 00:24:56,460
Now unless I'm very much mistaken, 2026

703
00:24:56,460 --> 00:24:59,039
is is in a few months' time. Yes.

704
00:24:59,180 --> 00:25:01,420
Yes. It is. And that is that is

705
00:25:01,420 --> 00:25:03,340
still very much the the window that we're

706
00:25:03,340 --> 00:25:04,694
looking at. So,

707
00:25:05,174 --> 00:25:07,755
my one of my French colleagues, Sophie Ednaud,

708
00:25:07,815 --> 00:25:09,894
will be going to the space station next

709
00:25:09,894 --> 00:25:13,035
year. So she is in that 2026,

710
00:25:13,974 --> 00:25:16,054
very exciting, kind of the the first of

711
00:25:16,054 --> 00:25:17,894
us to be going up to space. So

712
00:25:17,894 --> 00:25:18,214
that's,

713
00:25:19,220 --> 00:25:20,820
that's great to see her. You know, she's

714
00:25:20,820 --> 00:25:22,980
reporting back about all of her training as

715
00:25:22,980 --> 00:25:25,400
she goes into these very mission specific trainings.

716
00:25:26,660 --> 00:25:28,180
And, yes, for for the rest of us,

717
00:25:28,180 --> 00:25:30,259
it will be between 2027

718
00:25:30,259 --> 00:25:32,055
and 2030, and we'll go

719
00:25:32,535 --> 00:25:34,615
probably one by one. And that was kind

720
00:25:34,615 --> 00:25:35,835
of always what was anticipated.

721
00:25:36,375 --> 00:25:38,215
Of course, there's a lot of moving pieces

722
00:25:38,215 --> 00:25:40,394
right now. Maybe we will end up,

723
00:25:41,174 --> 00:25:43,095
maybe the how it looks will be slightly

724
00:25:43,095 --> 00:25:44,695
different. Maybe we won't end end up going

725
00:25:44,695 --> 00:25:46,634
one by one. Maybe we'll end up going,

726
00:25:47,490 --> 00:25:49,809
with other European astronauts, but that is all

727
00:25:49,809 --> 00:25:51,490
very much to be seen. Why did she

728
00:25:51,490 --> 00:25:54,849
go first? What's the the the selection for

729
00:25:54,849 --> 00:25:55,349
that?

730
00:25:56,769 --> 00:25:57,990
It's based on nationality,

731
00:25:58,289 --> 00:25:58,789
essentially.

732
00:25:59,265 --> 00:26:00,625
So, of course, ESA is,

733
00:26:01,184 --> 00:26:02,884
22 member states,

734
00:26:03,424 --> 00:26:03,924
and,

735
00:26:04,705 --> 00:26:07,025
all of those member states contribute different things

736
00:26:07,025 --> 00:26:09,424
to different programs. It's it's very much tied

737
00:26:09,424 --> 00:26:12,000
in with how astronauts are selected. It's

738
00:26:12,480 --> 00:26:15,519
obviously based on competencies, but also nationalities. And

739
00:26:15,519 --> 00:26:18,160
then the mission assignments, the order of that

740
00:26:18,160 --> 00:26:20,319
is very much a discussion between the director

741
00:26:20,319 --> 00:26:22,160
general and the heads of each of those

742
00:26:22,160 --> 00:26:23,299
nations. So it's,

743
00:26:23,839 --> 00:26:24,339
yeah,

744
00:26:24,640 --> 00:26:25,380
very much

745
00:26:26,384 --> 00:26:28,085
way, way above my level.

746
00:26:28,625 --> 00:26:30,705
Okay. I'm imagining you all now sitting in

747
00:26:30,705 --> 00:26:32,644
a room having a coffee going, who's next?

748
00:26:32,705 --> 00:26:35,125
Who's next? Is it? Well, I mean, luckily,

749
00:26:35,265 --> 00:26:36,945
because, you know, because we all come from

750
00:26:36,945 --> 00:26:39,329
different countries and, you know, it's, it's, it's

751
00:26:39,329 --> 00:26:41,329
not something where we have to we have

752
00:26:41,329 --> 00:26:43,109
to compare each other because

753
00:26:43,650 --> 00:26:45,410
the the system is how it is. Yeah.

754
00:26:45,410 --> 00:26:47,190
But, of course, you know, thinking about

755
00:26:47,650 --> 00:26:50,069
who is next is a very exciting pastime.

756
00:26:50,769 --> 00:26:53,474
But you also you don't wanna live your

757
00:26:53,474 --> 00:26:55,474
your life or live your career kind of

758
00:26:55,474 --> 00:26:57,394
saying, you know, who's gonna be next? When

759
00:26:57,394 --> 00:26:59,075
will it be me? You really have to

760
00:26:59,075 --> 00:27:01,095
to live in the moment, and that's something

761
00:27:01,474 --> 00:27:02,694
that I think we're understanding

762
00:27:03,075 --> 00:27:04,674
more and more. You know? The training is

763
00:27:04,674 --> 00:27:05,174
fantastic.

764
00:27:05,634 --> 00:27:07,079
What we're doing now is

765
00:27:08,039 --> 00:27:10,440
yeah. We're we're really, really enjoying it, and

766
00:27:10,440 --> 00:27:12,359
we cannot always kind of live for the

767
00:27:12,359 --> 00:27:14,599
next thing. It's what we're working towards. And

768
00:27:14,599 --> 00:27:16,759
when that moment happens for each of us

769
00:27:16,759 --> 00:27:17,259
individually,

770
00:27:17,799 --> 00:27:20,380
you know, that will be amazing. But

771
00:27:20,919 --> 00:27:22,380
yeah. You know? I'm

772
00:27:22,744 --> 00:27:24,125
I'm training now actually,

773
00:27:24,984 --> 00:27:27,164
as somebody who will work in mission control

774
00:27:27,225 --> 00:27:29,065
to talk to Sophie when she's on the

775
00:27:29,065 --> 00:27:29,565
ISS.

776
00:27:30,105 --> 00:27:31,705
So that is something that I'm really looking

777
00:27:31,705 --> 00:27:33,545
forward to, supporting her and her mission. And,

778
00:27:33,545 --> 00:27:35,225
you know, it really is a a team

779
00:27:35,225 --> 00:27:36,700
activity. And when I go up, you know,

780
00:27:36,700 --> 00:27:38,619
I'm looking forward to talking to my colleagues

781
00:27:38,619 --> 00:27:41,019
back in the past. That's amazing. And you

782
00:27:41,019 --> 00:27:42,880
say you're still training at the moment, but

783
00:27:43,500 --> 00:27:46,080
you'll still be training throughout this period. Yeah?

784
00:27:46,380 --> 00:27:48,460
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, Sophie going next year

785
00:27:48,460 --> 00:27:50,240
is actually a very condensed timeline.

786
00:27:50,704 --> 00:27:52,785
She is really, really, having to go through

787
00:27:52,785 --> 00:27:55,125
these things quickly. The the minimum training,

788
00:27:55,744 --> 00:27:57,904
is about two and a half years. So

789
00:27:57,904 --> 00:28:01,765
since we started our training in 2023,

790
00:28:03,247 --> 00:28:04,430
yeah, she has had the one of the

791
00:28:04,430 --> 00:28:07,410
most condensed timelines possible, so there is absolutely

792
00:28:07,549 --> 00:28:09,490
plenty for us to be training in,

793
00:28:10,029 --> 00:28:12,910
between now and twenty, twenty thirty. Yeah. I'm

794
00:28:12,910 --> 00:28:15,230
learning fly at the moment, actually, is my

795
00:28:15,230 --> 00:28:17,089
kind of, my current Oh, wow.

796
00:28:17,554 --> 00:28:18,054
Amazing.

797
00:28:18,355 --> 00:28:19,414
How's that going?

798
00:28:20,194 --> 00:28:23,154
Really interesting. Very different from my my previous

799
00:28:23,154 --> 00:28:26,434
role. Really, yeah, really, really interesting to see

800
00:28:26,434 --> 00:28:27,174
how much

801
00:28:28,275 --> 00:28:30,434
you know, how you can know something one

802
00:28:30,434 --> 00:28:32,230
moment on the ground, and then you get

803
00:28:32,230 --> 00:28:34,150
into a plane, and there's a million different

804
00:28:34,150 --> 00:28:36,150
things. You know? You're you're piloting. You're looking

805
00:28:36,150 --> 00:28:38,309
for traffic. You're doing checklists and trying to

806
00:28:38,309 --> 00:28:39,990
keep everything in your head. I can really

807
00:28:39,990 --> 00:28:42,309
see how valuable it is actually to train

808
00:28:42,309 --> 00:28:42,630
that,

809
00:28:43,269 --> 00:28:45,704
operational side of things, you might say. Yeah.

810
00:28:45,704 --> 00:28:47,384
Okay. I think you've got to go, but

811
00:28:47,384 --> 00:28:49,304
can I just ask you one? Two two

812
00:28:49,304 --> 00:28:51,224
more quick two more quick things. First one

813
00:28:51,224 --> 00:28:51,724
is,

814
00:28:52,424 --> 00:28:54,904
if you could go anywhere on a spacecraft,

815
00:28:54,904 --> 00:28:57,144
literally anywhere, there's no would like, where would

816
00:28:57,144 --> 00:28:58,505
you go? Would you go to one of

817
00:28:58,505 --> 00:29:00,599
those distant galaxies that you were studying or

818
00:29:00,679 --> 00:29:03,160
something else? I mean, if if we're talking

819
00:29:03,160 --> 00:29:05,419
just kind of complete sheer fantasy,

820
00:29:05,720 --> 00:29:08,679
I think, yes, I have often wondered. Because,

821
00:29:08,679 --> 00:29:10,119
I mean, one of the things about looking

822
00:29:10,119 --> 00:29:13,740
galaxies through telescopes is I'm very aware that

823
00:29:13,974 --> 00:29:15,494
a lot of what I look at in

824
00:29:15,494 --> 00:29:17,335
an image, I could not see with my

825
00:29:17,335 --> 00:29:19,734
eyes because it's an it's a radio telescope

826
00:29:19,734 --> 00:29:21,815
or infrared telescope or a gamma ray telescope,

827
00:29:21,815 --> 00:29:23,575
you know, frequencies that I cannot see with

828
00:29:23,575 --> 00:29:25,654
my eyes. So although I have this picture

829
00:29:25,654 --> 00:29:26,474
of a galaxy,

830
00:29:26,859 --> 00:29:28,619
I would I would love to know what

831
00:29:28,619 --> 00:29:30,460
it would be like to be in space

832
00:29:30,460 --> 00:29:31,440
and to actually

833
00:29:32,139 --> 00:29:33,039
look at it.

834
00:29:33,659 --> 00:29:35,259
And, you know, I I'm aware of kind

835
00:29:35,259 --> 00:29:37,419
of all of these hugely kind of violent

836
00:29:37,419 --> 00:29:39,500
eruptions happening within them. I think, well, how

837
00:29:39,500 --> 00:29:41,345
much of that could be perceived when you

838
00:29:41,345 --> 00:29:42,944
were there, I just I would find that

839
00:29:42,944 --> 00:29:43,924
absolutely fascinating.

840
00:29:45,585 --> 00:29:47,105
But, of course, you know, going to the

841
00:29:47,105 --> 00:29:49,204
ISS, going to the moon, there was,

842
00:29:49,585 --> 00:29:52,304
yeah, there was plenty of excitement there to

843
00:29:52,304 --> 00:29:54,680
keep me to keep me busy and to

844
00:29:54,680 --> 00:29:55,160
keep me,

845
00:29:55,799 --> 00:29:57,880
looking forward to it. And so we haven't

846
00:29:57,880 --> 00:29:59,080
had time to talk about going to the

847
00:29:59,080 --> 00:30:01,559
moon, but maybe maybe what will happen is

848
00:30:01,559 --> 00:30:03,559
when you are either selected or have been

849
00:30:03,559 --> 00:30:04,920
to the moon, you'll come back and talk

850
00:30:04,920 --> 00:30:06,299
to us then. Yes.

851
00:30:06,680 --> 00:30:08,299
Please. That would be great.

852
00:30:10,025 --> 00:30:12,025
Well, I'm sure, like me, you're looking forward

853
00:30:12,025 --> 00:30:14,204
to that and will follow Rosemarie's

854
00:30:14,664 --> 00:30:16,204
career as an astronaut

855
00:30:16,664 --> 00:30:18,605
in the years to come. What a wonderful,

856
00:30:18,664 --> 00:30:21,005
wonderful thing it is to hear from her

857
00:30:21,169 --> 00:30:23,569
and know what goes into this astronaut journey.

858
00:30:23,569 --> 00:30:25,569
I hope you enjoyed this episode of the

859
00:30:25,569 --> 00:30:28,369
Physics World Stories podcast. We'll be back next

860
00:30:28,369 --> 00:30:30,769
month with something else from this wonderful world

861
00:30:30,769 --> 00:30:31,429
of physics,

862
00:30:31,809 --> 00:30:33,909
and thank you very much for listening.

863
00:30:36,194 --> 00:30:38,115
I'd also like to thank the European Space

864
00:30:38,115 --> 00:30:40,115
Agency not only for helping to organize the

865
00:30:40,115 --> 00:30:42,595
interview with Rosemarie Coogan, but for providing the

866
00:30:42,595 --> 00:30:45,474
clips of the training on those parabolic flights

867
00:30:45,474 --> 00:30:46,694
for use in this podcast.