In preparation for his second mission to the International Space Station, ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet is training to be ready for launch. His second six-month mission is called Alpha and will see Thomas launch as part Crew-2 on the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft with NASA astronaut Megan Behnken and Shane Kimbrough and Japanese astronaut Aki Hoshide.

Here Thomas and Aki are learning how to unpack and setup a spacesuit once it has arrived on the International Space Station in a cargo spacecraft. So called "SLE Ops", which stands for operations for the "Short EMU Launch Enclosure". EMU is the NASA acronym for spacewalk suits, and the Short Launch Enclosure is the box used to store a spacesuit torso during launch. Everything needs to be thought of in detail for human spaceflight and this box protects the spacesuit from launch vibrations, and pressure building up. This session was to explain to the astronauts how it works and how they should unpack and repack spacesuit torsos in microgravity on the International Space Station.

More on ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet and his Alpha mission at www.esa.int/MissionAlpha