Original subtitles

- [Narrator] Astronauts and Cosmonauts,

we've seen them train and study for years

to enable these select people to work and live

aboard the International Space Station.

We've seen countless hours of their activities live

on television and in media.

With this wealth of experience and insight behind them,

what do they think when they return to Earth?

Without exception, these space farers simply cannot wait

to get back into space.

(dramatic music)

Astronaut Paolo Nespoli is on his third space mission.

- [Paolo] It's what I call becoming

an extraterrestrial person, you know?

It's losing your Earthling things and now you are

really an extraterrestrial person

because you don't think anymore about gravity,

you don't think anymore about up or down.

You think about what you need to do and position yourself

so you can do it in the best way.

You need to get used to working to live first in space,

being able to be very confident in the environment

where you are, you need to be able to learn to translate

extremely efficiently without banging into things.

You need to be able to carry stuff.

You need to be able to learn how to move around

and do things and how to sleep efficiently,

how to work efficiently.

And this takes like a month, a month and a half.

So after that time, you're fully ready to work

and that's six months, because you have the capability then

of performing at 100% of your capabilities

and then, you know, after six months,

I think people are ready to go back to Earth

and you know, taste again the food, smell the air,

see their friends, their family.

For me it was an exhilarating experience.

I mean, I found this thing of trying new things,

I find it really good.

I felt I was like a little kid

trying to do something, you know?

Try to get crazy and get inventive.

And sometimes I thought,

"Hmm, I should try something like that."

And I said, "Eh, that's not possible,

"it's never gonna work."

And they you try it and you see that it opens up

all sort of other things that you never thought about

and that, it's a very good feeling.

I mean, this feeling of discovery.

The astronaut is space is one of the resources

of the Space Station and the control center

want them to use as much as possible

so they have to make sure that they can work.

In fact, we do work from 7:30 in the morning until 8:30

in the evening.

That's the working day in Houston

and the other control center make sure

that it's filled with activities.

About 50% of that time is used for maintaining the station.

We need to fix things, we need to move equipment,

we need to change experiment.

We need to load and unload the spacecraft.

We need to prepare for space walks.

This is an important part.

And then another 30 to 40% is actually scientific work.

I am an engineer, an aerospace engineer

but I will do experiments that have to do with genetics,

with medicine, with live science, with metallurgy,

and we have a complex set of experiments

spanning 360 degrees.

Which is a sealed environment.

I'm gonna open up.

It's a little bit going to school.

Yes, it's a little bit like the adrenaline

that pumps in when you are in an exam

and you want to, for one side, you want to show off,

you want to show all the things that you know

and the other side, you need to be careful

because some of these things can be very tricky

and it's easy to misunderstand something

or getting too much involved in one thing

and forget about the other one.

- [Narrator] There are currently 16 active members

of the ESA astronaut core.

Pal who is among the eldest,

at 60 this is his third flight into space.

- I feel really honored to be able to fly in space again,

it's a very nice experience for me.

I'm looking forward to use all of these investment

that the agency have made in the past year to qualify my,

all my other personal investment that I made

in get qualified and stay qualified and use it again,

go to space and be useful.

I mean, I'm 60, but I'm going there and I'm expected

to perform as anybody else and carry out my task

and I'm looking forward to do what is needed

and possibly a little bit more.

- [Narrator] Other ESA astronauts who have experienced

their first missions in space are already in training

for the next.

Alexander Gerst has spent 165 days in orbit

with six hours of EVA experience.

Even though he is well aware of the amount of work

and that what lies ahead, he's keen to get back into space.

- It's a fantastic feeling to be back

in training, of course.

You can see the training facilities right behind me

and you can see why it's so interesting.

I mean, this is like a full-on mock-up of the Space Station

so this is really the closest you can get on this planet

to how the Space Station feels and looks like.

And I've, of course, missed it a little bit

after my last mission.

I returned in 2014, that's three years ago,

so it feels great to be back in that working mode.

- [Narrator] He'll certainly be continuing

some of the research he started in orbit back in 2014.

On top of this, he'll be fulfilling a new role,

that of ISS commander, a job which requires a high level

of responsibility for the station and its crew.

- Of course, the new part to my training is that

on my next mission, I have the added responsibility

of being the ISS commander.

And to me, that's a great honor,

so I'm very humbled by the trust that people have in me

to actually command this fantastic Space Station.

But, of course, it's comes with a big responsibility

also already in training.

So that means I'm right now not only responsible

for my own training, like on my mission,

I had to make sure that I'm trained and I can do everything

that people need from me in orbit.

And now I have a crew to take care of.

- [Narrator] Another key element

of the returned astronaut's life

is to impart their considerable experience

in order to help train the next rookie astronauts.

Matthias Maurer, ESA's newest astronaut

has been training with astronauts Tim Peake

and Luca Parmitano,

both of whom boast extensive EVA experience.

- It's actually a lot of fun because I can relate

what I'm doing on the ground to what I did in orbit

and it gives me perspective to how it's gonna be

while I train.

And as a matter of fact, our feedback to the instructor

is very well-received because we can improve the training

that we receive just by getting our experience

into the equation.

- It's great to be back in Houston training again.

I'll be in the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory very shortly

with Matthias Maurer, the German astronaut, my ESA colleague

really looking forward to that, as well.

Trying to sort of impart some of my knowledge

from my space walk and to share my experience with Matthias.

Here in building nine, of course, it's great to be back,

reminiscing about my time on the Space Station

but also learning about the new developments

that are constantly changing on board of the Space Station.

Don't tell it to this deering on the bottom,

that's only for the battery.

The other thing, too is how you can shove up

this all the way in here and then this foot.

I have so many fantastic images and wonderful memories

of my six-month mission to space,

if I would have to choose one highlight,

I would probably say the space walk was the highlight.

Just going out to the hatch and seeing space, seeing Earth

and looking back at the Space Station

from inside a spacesuit.

That really was another order of magnitude over and above

just the experience of going into space.

You put your toolbox down here,

your toolbox will stay 'cause the water will keep it

and the gravity will keep it.

In space, you put your toolbox down, you look back

and it's gone.

It's on there and it's all over the place

and all the tool inside your toolbox

will all be floating around a lot more,

so the microgravity is really difficult in space.

I was the the NBL earlier this week

and just seeing the suit up operations

and seeing the suited guys going down

for their spacewalk training,

it really brings into perspective what the realities

of a spacewalk are versus the NBL.

And you know, there aren't that many,

the NBL really is a fantastic place to train for a spacewalk

is the best place that we can train on Earth.

The crew look all right?

Yes, and actually this is a good opportunity

and whenever you're heading out there, a lot--

- When European astronauts get training on how to operate

in a spacesuit, in the American spacesuit

and so we need to learn how the space would work,

how it functions, and also how difficult it is

to work inside such a suit, it's very liming and like

a work that takes us five minutes here on the ground,

in space it takes me half an hour.

And afterwards, my entire body aches and it's like,

it's hard, hard work outside on the station.

- Hand over hand and Matthias, you don't have to

anchor us the EP we could have--

- Pause for a second to figure out, which,

I hope that I get the chance do spacewalk

because all my colleagues told me spacewalk,

it's like the best experience of your space flight.

Leaving the station, seeing the station from the outside

and having a very clear picture of the Earth below you

without being limited by a window, just looking

through your visor, that is yeah, the perfect image

and I'm really looking forward to it.

I'm happy that I'm out of the water

and I actually can move my arms again

how my body is designed to move the arms.

Because the suit constraints a lot of my arm movement.

(dramatic music)

- We thought I'd be a great idea.

- It kinda serves its purpose,

we found better techniques like safety tethercaps.

When you're in that in that position

and you want your gravity here.

Just even to see-- - I couldn't see.

It's good to just have one wire I dedicate to,

mine is stretching here.

I like the join to be on top because you'll find in the pool

you need this to maintain your rigidity.

This right now is in mortar so in order to do the caltus

you need to be able to do put it retroclockwise

or counterclockwise.

There you go.

Little different, now you got your LED testing.

Now you know all your LEDs are working.

Don't tether to this thing on the bottom.

That's only for the battery.

The other thing too is that you shove this all the way

in here, and then this will.

It's not new to you in that

you're gonna go ahead and stick your boot

into the toe loop, put your heel down.

- And foot in and then I lean backwards?

- When we were in the Army,

we had three space crafts come up.

We had sickness, we had HTV and ATV.

- Yeah.

- ATV was all the way aft

and you have to cross all of the Russian segment

in order to transfer to the other side.

And it would really need some coordination

with our own colleagues because the working sport,

then you are floating in the middle.

- So the station does become a very busy place.

- Even in shape, there are modules

that, and different position that,

compared to when I was in the air

and the procedures had changed compared to

when I was up there and specifically

the emergency procedures

and all of the payloads are different.

So all the training has to be done completely from zero.

(upbeat music)

- [Narrator] The seasoned astronauts still get a kick

out of looking to the future,

especially when it comes to new equipment

and spacecraft like the Orion capsule.

- Testing the Orion capsule station was really exciting.

It is the next stage in our space exploration.

Europe is very much a firm partner in there

with providing a service module

for the first exploration mission,

which is really exciting.

Going back to the moon with a vision

of using that same vehicle

for some form of Mars transportation vehicle.

- Currently we are flying to the ISS

but the ISS program would soon, like,

become to an end or will it become

a commercial space station.

On the other hand, we're also looking to fly

much deeper into space, the ISS flies

at 400 kilometers altitude.

And with the Orion we can actually go into deep space,

for example, to the moon, which is 400,000 kilometers,

so 1,000 times five further away than the ISS.

And actually, this opens a new perspective

into air exploration, we can go to the moon

and after the moon we will go to Mars.

And there are lots of adventures, lot of science

that we can do in deep space.

- [Narrator] Experience isn't the only thing

astronauts bring back from space.

Their biological specimens help evolve

the gastronomical sciences.

- Here we are, opening the samples we received from Toma

coming directly from the ISS.

There are different samples of urine

collected during 10 days of tests.

- [Narrator] Providing enough energy for the astronauts

is a critical aspect of payload planning,

particularly for long duration flights.

- The center will provide us with an inventory

of all the food taken by Toma up there,

for all the time of the exercises he made

during the 10 days of our tests.

Here for example, we can see on this table

the energy consumption of Toma every day,

how much he has spent.

- [Narrator] You can't order pizza to go in orbit

so the decisions about what to take with them

can be critical for astronauts.

- Food is something that's really underestimated

down here in the ground, like people go,

"Oh yeah, I'm gonna fly to space,

"so I don't care what kind of food I take."

It's not bad.

Well, you start caring about that.

One month into the mission and then

if you made the wrong decisions,

it's a hard remaining five months.

This is mainly to trigger my memory

for the food that I already had.

And now I can make choices based on how I remember them.

And then there's a few new ones in between,

for them I have to sort of guess.

There's still debate that taste actually changes,

the actual taste buds, do people perceive taste differently.

My personal opinion is we don't, I think it's the same.

But the cravings change and that is really hard to predict.

Right now I might not care so much for broccoli

and cauliflower but up there I really like it,

because it's pretty protein-loaded.

What we have, we have a lot of meat.

And then I try to add anything that reminds me

of something green, let's put it that way.

I mean those beans, they don't resemble beans a lot

but they actually taste really nice.

We didn't have blueberries last time, right?

We actually had raisins.

That stuff is awesome.

Last time I got a few Russian bonus lieutenants.

They also have very, very good food.

Their food is more succulent, like they have more,

more grease and they're, also more spices.

Also more salt, which is not so good for the bones.

So I tried not to eat so much of it.

The American foods or the routine food

is more healthy, I would say.

But once in awhile it's really satisfying

to just open one of the cans of this really

succulent, savory Russian food

and I absolutely enjoyed it.

It's really good.

On my last expedition we tried to have

the meals all together.

The US crew, European crew together,

we always had meals together when we could.

And then on the weekends we would gather

like the six of us, either the Russians would invite us

to their segment or we would invite them.

And then we have the big table

and everybody brings something together,

it was kind of this medley.

That's important, those are the relaxation moments.

You can take your time, you put music on

and you chat about how your week went.

It's the last thing that I have for today.

After a successful tasting of 48 items.

(upbeat music)

- [Narrator] With experience comes cooperation.

ESA is now conducting astronaut training

activities in China.

Samantha Cristoforetti and rookie Mattias

were each teamed with two taikonauts,

who between them have considerable space flight experience.

- We are basically practicing what would happen

if there was an off nominal landing,

we wouldn't land on the ground

but we would actually land in the water.

And we would have to survive independently

for some time and using the rescue boats

and the rescue kits and executing, of course,

a reentry capsule autonomously.

(dramatic music)

- [Narrator] After donning insulation

and buoyancy suits, they practiced rescue procedures

with both ship and a helicopter

from a mock up Shangzhou capsule.

Space missions can be unpredictable,

and training exercises such as these

ensure that astronauts are prepared for every eventuality.

- The training experience offers great,

the Chinese are really well prepared.

It's high level equipment, we get helicopter air lifting.

We have a huge sea survival rescue ship,

which is usually employed on the high seas.

So very good equipment and a very good experience so far.

- [Narrator] Accompanying Samantha and Mattias

in China were a flight sergeant and a training specialist

who gained insights

into the different cultural nuances and approaches.

- In this training we have had the opportunity

to be closer with our Chinese medical colleagues.

I've been very, very impressed about how they have combined

their traditional Chinese medicine,

which has thousands of years of history,

with the most advanced medical knowledge

we can find now in the world.

Training here is very, very well organized.

So we have different ways of approaching training,

which is iterated from the ISS program.

But actually they are not that far away.

So it means that we find common words

and a common understanding

in the way they also organize training.

So for us it's a very good sign

for further cooperation with the Chinese.

- [Narrator] This training exercise wasn't

the first collaboration between the two space agencies.

In July 2016, Chinese astronaut Yei Guan Fu

joined ESA's caving course in Sardinia

to experience an extreme environment

as part of a multicultural crew.

Both activities stem from the 2015 agreement

to boost collaboration between ESA

and the Chinaman space agency

with the ultimate goal of flying European astronauts

on board the Chinese space station from 2022.

- This joint training we are doing here

is a first step in a cooperation

that we on hope will lead one day in the early 2020s

to a European astronaut flying with taikonauts

to the future Chinese space station.

And so of course, I would be thrilled if I, if I,

if I had that opportunity.

- [Narrator] Organized by the Astronaut Center of China,

in cooperation with the ministry of transport's

Bay High Rescue Bureau,

this training session has been an important step

towards long term collaboration.

Space flight opens up new horizons

not just for astronauts but for nations as well.

- Just to let you know, my last mission

was called the Blue Dot.

We focused on the view back, the perspective back

from space onto our little planet earth

as it, you know, flies through the black universe.

Now on the new mission we decided

to take a step further, to even view

with a bigger perspective, to acknowledge

that it's not only about our blue planet earth

but there's much more out there in the universe.

And as the early explorers who sailed beyond the horizon

towards the horizon and even further,

we named our new mission the Horizons Mission.

(futuristic music)