In only a few years, he became the face of the space conquest in France. A reputation acquired after a first stay on the international space Station between 2016 and 2017, and who is about to take off more : Thomas Pesquet, 42 years old, find the ISS in the next year. The end of the course ? Not so sure, to listen to the person concerned, who would rather set foot on the martian soil.
"I have a dream set foot on this planet, like all of my colleagues and plenty of people in the world," concedes the Parisian, however, forced to recognize that the time is not to argue necessarily in his favor. Indeed, the exploration of the red planet will pass first through intermediate steps. "Before going on to March, we will return to the Moon. It's less interesting scientifically, but it is necessary to repeat, prepare our technology, and we can only do that around the Moon. This could occur around 2025-2030 ", develops Thomas Pesquet.
" I'd like to be ! "
A human being should therefore be able to reel off the red dust to " 2035-2040 ". "I'll be at the end of my career as an astronaut. I will be sixty, but he will need experienced people to order the mission " hope to the French. "Therefore, it is not impossible for me. Yes, I would like to be ! "
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For all that, the astronaut would be willing to sacrifice everything for his dreams of conquest of space ? In view of the difficulties presented by today the trip, including the distance between Mars and Earth – at least 75 million kilometres away – some missions are anticipating a go without return. Could it be seen ? "No," says Thomas Pesquet, " but the question does not arise, because it is not like this that work agencies ". The objection lies also in the very nature of the astronauts. "We want to make science, research, exploration. This involves reporting of the samples, and to bring people back, " says the former pilot.
