Space workout

ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet is sharing scenes from life on board the International Space Station during his second mission “Alpha”. He shared this video on social media with the caption:

“Space workout anyone? The Advanced Resistive Exercise Device or ARED is called this for a reason, it uses pressurized air in two cylinders and complicated machinery to allow us to weightlift in space: squats, deadlifts, bench press, shoulder press, biceps curl, etc, we can do it all… but we do a lot of squats: these muscles don’t do much work during our normal day. We never skip exercise on the International Space Station. Every. Single. Day. I miss having a shower, and I miss the rain, and I miss fresh food, but secretly I also miss having a day without having to exercise. Don't tell my flight surgeon!”

Over 200 experiments are planned during Thomas’ time in space, with 40 European ones and 12 new experiments led by the French space agency CNES.

Latest updates on the Alpha mission can be found via @esaspaceflight on Twitter, with more details on ESA’s exploration blog via thomaspesquet.esa.int.

Background information on the Alpha mission is available at www.esa.int/MissionAlpha with a brochure at www.esa.int/AlphaBrochure.              

Access the broadcast quality version of the video.