Thomas on Space Station exercise bike

ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet riding the Space Station's exercise bicycle, 6 May 2021.

Thomas shared this image on his social media channels with the caption:"Here's the Space Station exercise bicycle, one of three ways to exercise in space (we also have a treadmill and a "weight"-lifting machine). Today is World Bicycle Day and we call our bicycle CEVIS which stands for Cycle Ergometer with Vibration Isolation and Stabilization System – I don't know which 'S' made it into the acronym ). The third UN Sustainable Development Goal is: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages. I'll be honest I am more of a runner, but we spend two hours a day exercising in space on three different machines because it is so important! In space we experience a type of accelerated ageing and exercise is even more important than on Earth, because we use our muscles less – on Earth your body constantly compensates for gravity as it keeps balancing to stay upright – unless you are lying down of course. Variation, like everything in life, is key, and cycling is a good non-impact way of keeping fit. Researchers are fascinated by keeping track of our bodies in weightlessness because it offers a way to ethically monitor people in stress and in rapid ageing (that's us!). That's what all the pipes are for, to monitor my VO2 max, a common way of testing fitness, professional cyclists will know it well! One thing everybody agrees on: exercise to stay fit and healthy!"

Follow Thomas and his Mission Alpha on his blog.