In photos, Thomas Pesquet’s visit to the Cité de l’Espace

On Friday June 3, 2022, the European and French astronaut returned to the Cité de l’Espace to answer many questions from the public. Six months after his return from the space station, fans of Thomas Pesquet have not forgotten what he achieved during his time on the ISS. Back in pictures.

He had come five years ago, at the end of his first mission, Nearby, in contact with the Cité de l’Espace public, many of whom came for the twentieth anniversary of this temple of scientific mediation. Now, the Cité de l’Espace is about to celebrate its quarter century and the arrival of Thomas Pésquet opens the ball.

Thomas Pesquet came to the Cité at the end of the afternoon. In the morning, he was at Cnes, in contact with teams from Cadmos (Centre for the development of activities in microgravity and space operations). He spent the morning in the company of the teams who helped and accompanied him while he produced or followed the 12 French experiments of the Alpha mission. After Cnes, he went to Stade Toulousain with the OSE Isae association, of which he is one of the sponsors.

Under a summer sun, Toulouse being an oasis between the thunderstorms, Thomas Pesquet came to answer questions from the public, mainly asked by children or students. Thomas Pesquet recounted his experience of the Alpha mission, which just finished for him. Just before, he answered questions from the press, in particular on the continuation of his career as an astronaut.

What’s next for Thomas Pesquet?

Of course, the Moon is on the program. For him, it’s already tomorrow. If the first manned mission around the Moon (Artemis II) will not take place before 2023-2024, the preparation will start two years before and European astronauts will participate! As a reminder, the European Space Agency will provide two modules to the space station Gateway which will rotate in lunar orbit. In return, several European astronauts could be part of it.

While waiting for the Moon, Thomas Pesquet joins his ESA colleagues, Luca Parmitano and Alexander Gerst, to interview the candidates currently selected in the selection of ESA astronauts.