Thomas Pesquet: "The second stay will be more difficult, not physically but mentally"

Ce lundi 19 avril 2021 s'est tenue l'ultime conférence de presse de l'astronaute français Thomas Pesquet avec les journalistes européens. Extraits. (Le direct du lancement, jeudi 22 avril, sera à suivre sur le site de Sciences et Avenir).

"We are in the mindset of an athlete on the starting line for the Olympic Games final"

Three days before the launch of the Crew Dragon capsule to the international space station, where are you preparations?

Thomas Pesquet: Everything is going well.The rocket and the capsule are ready, we are ready.The morale is good and we try to enjoy our last days on earth before leaving the planet for six months.

How long can the Falcon 9 launcher stay on his shooting step, in the event of a problematic weather?The delay was three days for the Russian Russian Soyuz rocket.

The SpaceX launcher can stay on his shooting step as long as he has not been supplied with fuel.We have a shooting window on Thursday, but there are some other shooting options.It is possible to shift the launch once or twice over the following two days or the following week.Obviously, we hope it will not happen, because we want to go on time.It would arrange everyone!

"" J-5: In Baikonour, the crew is not supposed to see its rocket before takeoff day ... But here the tradition is different! We were lucky to arrive at Kennedy Space Center at the precise momentWhere the Falcon 9 was verticalized on the shot. It is always impressive to see it so close! ”© SpaceX

How do the last minutes take place before setting fire?

It's stunning!We rehearsed the launch yesterday (April 18).At the exact time of takeoff, we were in the capsule, at the top of the 70 -meter -high rocket, equipped with our spaces.We thought we were in the simulator.With my colleagues, we repeated this moment dozens and dozens of times, so much so that everything was familiar.The procedures are routine.One has the impression of reliving what has already been experienced in the simulator.At the time of launch, each one hinders the countdown into their heads, has a thought for their loved ones, their family, and very quickly the technique takes over.It’s not very poetic, but we have a task to do: we don't want to lose a single information that would be important.We are in the mindset of an athlete who aligns himself on the starting line for the Olympic Games final.