French astronaut Thomas Pesquet is set to become station commander on a mission to the International Space Station (ISS) this year. He will be the third European to command the ISS. The 43-year-old astronaut plans to treat his fellow ISS crew members a number of French dishes, some of which are prepared by prestigious Michelin star chef Thierry Marx.
Pesquet is expected to fly from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Thursday, April 22, 2021.
Along with him in the SpaceX capsule, will also join NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur and Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide.
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The Director General of the European Space Agency (ESA) Josef Aschbacher announced Tuesday 16 March that the French astronaut would be promoted to commander of the station for a period of his mission.
“In agreements with other ISS partners, with NASA, Roscosmos, JAXA, CSA and ourselves, ESA, it was recently decided that Thomas will be commander of the space station in his last stay there,” said Josef Aschbacher. .
Pesquet will be the third European to occupy the position. In an online briefing, Pesquet said he “humbly feels very honored.”
“To three consecutive European commanders for three ISS missions, which, if you ask me, is incredible. I could hardly believe that we were going to achieve that, ”explained French astronaut Thomas Pesquet.
The mission will be Pesquet’s second visit to the International Space Station (ISS), having spent 197 days in space between November 2016 and June 2017.
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As with his first mission, Pesquet said he planned to treat his fellow ISS crew with a number of French dishes, some of which were prepared by Michelin star chef Thierry Marx.
Pesquet said he plans to share six types of dishes with his entire crew of colleagues, including in between almond cake and beef bourguignon.
“I give them a list of everything I like, all the flavors I like, all the dishes I like. Some of the dishes are from when I was a kid, and they then put on an amazing menu. There will be six meals in total that I hope I can share with my colleagues ”explained Thomas Pesquet.
“There is a lot of hope. You send the French into space, obviously all my colleagues are expecting good food. I’m a bad cook myself, but someone cooked it for me,” he added.
Joining NASA’s SpaceX Crew-2 mission, the private company’s second crew rotational flight, Pesquet will become the first European to take a SpaceX capsule into orbit.
Having flown in a Russian Soyuz capsule on his first mission to the ISS, the astronaut said the SpaceX Dragon Crew had a big difference.
“Now that we are transitioning to something completely new, the latest technology, completely new and still shiny, more comfortable, I am able to stretch my legs, which is why SpaceX is grateful,” continued Pesquet.
NASA says Pesquet and the rest of the ISS crew are scheduled to stay for an extended period in the orbiting laboratory.
They will spend several months conducting scientific research and station maintenance before the astronauts return to Earth in the fall of 2021. [uh/ab]
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