Tag Archives: sporten

More exercise because my return is near

Terugkeer Just three more weeks. I am counting down to my return. I have mixed feelings. On the one hand I want to go home and see my family and friends. On the other hand I do not want to leave because I know I will never return to space. I have accepted that I will not be able to do everything that I had planned for this mission. I will not be able to take a daytime picture of The Netherlands without any clouds for example. It will not be possible as the Space Station’s orbit is not optimal for taking pictures of The Netherlands in the coming weeks. I tried many times in the last few months but the weather was usually not good. The Netherlands lay beneath a white cover of clouds. When the clouds cleared we orbited Holland early in the morning and the view was hazy. (more...)

Mission X: do astronauts need to be athletes?

Loopband Children often ask me if astronauts are athletic. Does an astronaut need to be in perfect shape? I answer that astronauts do not need to be  a superman, but they should be healthy and in good shape. In my case it is quite a challenge. I love to snack and sometimes I skip exercise. At least on Earth I do. In space it is a different story... Here on the ISS I come close to being a top athlete. Astronauts here have to exercise two hours every day and if we don’t, our muscles and bones get weaker. If I don’t do enough exercise my doctors and trainers at the European Astronaut Centre in Cologne send me a message to remind me. You can’t skip going to the gym in space... Read on...

Sport, experiments and somersaults for TV

Neurospat Every day on board the ISS I change into several different clothes. Back home on Earth most people have a logical schedule. You go to work, go shopping in the weekend, visit friends or go to a sport club. In space things happen differently. Our schedule tells us what to do down to the last minute. Thankfully there is some breathing space, but some events need to be done on time due to the satellite connections with ground control. The activities we do can be quite varied. One moment I am on the exercise bike, half an hour later I could be doing a live event with the American media. In between I might grab a quick lunch, after the live event, another hour of exercise, and then back to the experiments. Sometimes it is not worth changing clothes in between our different activities, so we end up floating around on television in our exercise clothes. Read on...