Home

Astronaut stresses importance of international space cooperation

German astronaut Alexander Gerst
Reading Time: 1 minute

Following his return from the International Space Station (ISS), German astronaut Alexander Gerst appealed for continued international cooperation in space.

Speaking to reporters in Cologne, Gerst praised the “vision” of those who planned ISS decades ago, the world’s “most complicated project” which spans across continents and requires maximum precision.

Every element of the ISS must meet “a hundredth of a millimetre accuracy”, Gerst said, because “we can’t drive to the DIY store if something doesn’t fit.”

Gerst also discussed his newly found love for broccoli during the hour-long news conference.

Asked by a small boy in the audience dressed as an astronaut whether Gerst had already eaten broccoli since returning to earth, the real astronaut smiled and replied ‘no.’

Then he revealed that the vegetable was served aboard the ISS and that it had become one of his favourite dishes in space.

Three crew remain on the station: NASA’s Anne McClain, David Saint-Jacques of the Canadian Space Agency and Russia’s Oleg Kononenko.

Three additional crew will join them in February.

In October, US astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin landed unharmed on the Kazakh steppe after their rocket bound for the station failed two minutes after lift off.

Author

MOST READ