Immersive Exercise training with Thomas Pesquet

Thomas Pesquet training for the Immersive exercise experiment at the European Astronaut Centre in Cologne, Germany. This experiment ran during Thomas's second mission to the Interntational Space Station called Alpha.

Astronauts exercise two hours a day to compensate for the loss of bone and muscle mass from living in weightlessness. The daily workout can quickly become repetitive in the closed and unchanging environment, leading to lack of motivation. The Immersive Exercise experiment aims to break the monotony with virtual reality. Coupled with the Space Station’s exercise bike, an astronaut can pedal in space while riding through Earth landscapes. Videos filmed in 360° on Earth are played back on the headset, with the speed changing depending on how fast the astronaut pedals. A number of scenes have been captured, including one trip around Paris and its monuments at Thomas’s request. Already in use in some terrestrial fitness centres, the Immersive Exercise equipment could evolve to include gradient difficulties to recreate mountain roads. The Immersive Exercise technology should keep astronauts motivated on the International Space Station and improve their performance – an important aspect to consider on longer missions to the Moon and Mars.