Thomas and Matthias astro chats: emergencies

Join ESA astronauts Thomas Pesquet and Matthias Maurer at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, USA. In part two of this video series, the astronauts discuss how they prepare to respond to emergency situations on board the International Space Station.

Though mission details and dates are yet to be confirmed, Thomas and Matthias are the next two European astronauts in line for flights. Thomas has flown to the International Space Station before, while Matthias will fly for the first time.

Prior to a mission, astronauts train extensively to ensure they are familiar with the vast array of systems and operations on board. In this video, the pair focus on emergency training and consider how things might change when astronauts travel farther from Earth to the Moon and Mars.

This video was filmed in June 2020. At that time, the platform Thomas and Matthias were standing on – in front of a full-scale mock-up of the International Space Station – was the only place at NASA’s JSC that they could interact without face masks. Despite this, the pair were required to maintain social distance at all times as a precaution.