Astronaut Thomas Pesquet explains how crews cope with living in space

Uploaded on May 31, 2017

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Astronaut Thomas Pesquet explains how crews cope with living in space

2017-05-31 – In this video, European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet talks about At Home in Space, Canada's first psychosocial experiment assessing how astronauts from all over the world adapt to living together aboard the International Space Station. It also draws a parallel to the people on Earth who share similar living conditions. (Credits: Canadian Space Agency, ESA, NASA)

Thomas Pesquet: Hi everyone, I’m Thomas Pesquet. Astronaut of the European Space Agency.

Exploring space is thrilling, but life in orbit can have its downsides, too.

In addition to the inherent risks of space travel, being far away from family and friends for months can be stressful.

Living in isolated and confined quarters can also be challenging at times.

How do astronauts cope with being away from home?

Canada’s first psycho-social experiment aboard the space station is helping to answer this question.

The experiment is called “At Home in Space,” and is led by Dr Phyllis Johnson of the University of British Columbia. Dr Johnson is studying how astronauts from all over the world adapt to living together in space. Her work could help benefit communities on Earth with similar living conditions, including:
• people working in remote and isolated environments, or in extreme conditions;
• members of the military on deployment;
• or the elderly living in retirement homes, who may find themselves having to adapt to smaller spaces and sharing common areas.

Personally, I am really looking forward to reading the study’s conclusions about dealing with isolation.

(JOKE follows)

Now if only someone could do something about getting decent pizza delivered up here

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