He won’t be celebrating it with great fanfare, with petits fours and champagne. No, only the tolling of a small bell, a legacy of the very first to have occupied the post in 2000, will mark this Monday, October 4, the enthronement of Thomas Pesquet as commander of the International Space Station.
A formality within the ISS since it will be the 53rd astronaut to hold this title. But for the national pride, it is an important day because the astronaut of Norman origin is the first French to reach this function, and only the 4th European.
#MissionAlpha Very happy with the announcement of @AschbacherJosef : I should become the 4th European commander of the International Space Station, at the end of my mission. I am proud to receive this honor! pic.twitter.com/1EOkrZkQn7
– Thomas Pesquet (@Thom_astro) March 16, 2021
At 9:20 p.m. Paris time, he will succeed the Japanese Akihiko Hoshide with whom he made the trip aboard the Crew Dragon last April. This is not the first handover of power between the two men, the latter having symbolically passed the baton of the Olympic Games in the space between Tokyo and Paris last August.
With Aki we got a little ahead of the #ClosingCeremony while waiting for the real handover # Tokyo2020 -> # Paris2024 on 🌏 in a few hours
🇯🇵🤜🤛🇫🇷
With the @ Tokyo2020 @Olympics ending today and the next #Olympics to be @ Paris2024, @Aki_Hoshide and I held a ceremony pic.twitter.com/7dpYBr4Xwu– Thomas Pesquet (@Thom_astro) August 8, 2021
The boss on board in case of emergency
This new mission is not just symbolic. If the flight director, on the ground, “remains the” chief “, who guides all operations”, indicates the CNES, the captain must ensure that all the members of the ISS are operational. He must also ensure that the confined world of the Station remains a peaceful place where harmony is high between the various astronauts of different nationality.
If there should be a fire or a problem, Thomas Pesquet will have to put on his boss cap and direct operations, respecting a very specific order: save the crew, the ISS then the mission. “Control the ISS; it is a responsibility. A responsibility, and a great pride! », Says Frank de Winne, the first European astronaut to have taken on this role in 2009.
A new mission for the French, who will be able to discuss his feelings the next day with 200 students, from primary to high school, gathered at the Cité de l’Espace, before his return to Earth within a few weeks.