Helmet lights on

ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet trains for his second mission to the International Space Station, Alpha. Scheduled to be launched to the Station in 2021, Thomas will become the first ESA astronaut to fly on a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft. 

In this image Thomas is carrying out vacuum chamber testing at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, USA to ensure there are no leaks in his spacesuit.

He says, "After trying on the spacesuits, a next step is vacuum chamber testing to ensure there are no leaks. This kind of test is not without danger, as the air is pumped out of the chamber behind us and if the spacesuit were to fail... well reading about rapid depressurisation is not fun.

It happened to a NASA engineer Jim Leblanc in 1965 and one of the last things he remembers is the saliva in his mouth boiling on his tongue. Thankfully this is extremely rare and Jim survived without permanent damage. A salute to all the ground teams that prepare, train and make sure all spacewalks happen smoothly, thanks to the meticulous planning, engineering and training. Ready for the real thing!"