By akademiotoelektronik, 17/08/2022

The space program."Is there a pilot in the ISS" asks Louane, 9, to Thomas Pesquet

Like every Saturday on Franceinfo, astronaut Thomas Pesquet answers children's questions from the international space station.This week we go to visit the ISS!

Welcome on board with Nina and Nina, who both go to the Aimé Legall school in Mouans-Sartoux, in the Alpes Maritimes.In this space program you will also be in the company of Louane, the school of Auzouville sur Saâne, in Normandy, and finally of Houyem and Rayan, both students at Léon Rousso school, in Nîmes, and who also wantKnow everything about the ISS.

Nina and Nina, ask if the ISS is large, how much it does m² and if the astronaut has already lost in the station.In his response, Thomas Pesquet explains to them who is indeed very large: "It's not like a house...It is rather the cubic meters that count.We live in three dimensions and we are about 400 cubic meters...It's like a big Boeing 747, a long -haul plane."And fortunately no, he never got lost in the ship, even if sometimes, he happens to be a little disoriented!

Erwan, 9, asks this question: "How did you bring the ISS back into space?".The astronaut replied that this is done in several times, "like a Lego", the songs have been reported one after the other since 1998, and today the station is complete.

Louane wonders, "Is there a pilot in the ISS?".To summarize, "no, there is no pilot in the ISS, except in the event of a problem".

Houyem is 6 years old, and he is already very pragmatic!He wants to know: "How do you do the Cupola cleaning and how do you clean the windows?".Thomas Pesquet reveals that the big day of cleaning in the ISS is Saturday and that everyone is getting there.On the other hand, if nothing is really planned for cleaning the windows of the Cupola, he finds that it is a very good idea to submit for the next shipments.

Rayan, meanwhile, and from the age of 6 too, would like to be able to count the daily passages of the ISS above France, and above all know if the arenas of Nîmes have been visible from all up there!The astronaut replies that it depends because the ISS does not always pass in the same places.

"It's quite cyclical, but fortunately, we have software that calculates our navigation, our trajectory.A bit like a GPS in a car predicting in advance where we are going to be.Me, it allows me to anticipate, to know that we will pass this evening above France."Perhaps he will think of taking a photo of the arenas of nymes with his telephoto lens next time!

On this page, you can listen in its entirety this new episode of the space program, in which the astronaut Thomas Pesquet answers children on life on board the ISS.An appointment not to be missed every Saturday, at 10:44 am and 12:50 pm, on Franceinfo radio and to be found in podcast.