“What an adventure!” Sophie Adenot held her first press conference on Monday, November 2, since the end of her rehabilitation program for life on Earth, which lasted three weeks. The Frenchwoman started it at the European Astronaut Center in Cologne (Germany) on October 10, two days after landing off the coast of California. The astronaut answered questions from journalists for more than an hour with his usual smile and joviality. Franceinfo goes over the main points to remember.
On his physical recovery
After eight months aboard the International Space Station (ISS) for the Epsilon mission, Sophie Adenot was immediately questioned about her state of health. On October 10, on the tarmac of Cologne airport, the helicopter test pilot appeared very weakened, two doctors having to support her so that she could stand and speak to the press. “It’s going very well,” said the European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut.
“The return, as you all perceived when I arrived in Cologne, was physiologically very, very trying. (...) Today, we can say that I am in the same shape as before, if not better.”
If the physical recovery is good, it also takes some time for the mind to come back down to Earth. “It takes time for the mind to readjust,” she conceded, saying lightly that seeing objects on a table seemed almost strange to her. She expects them to start floating, like they do on the International Space Station, where everything is attached with carabiners, strapped down or secured with Velcro.
Sophie Adenot also said she was "in the joy of rediscovering the little pleasures of the Earth", which are "perhaps innocent and insignificant for people who remained on Earth during this eight-month phase, but which for [her] are magical". She describes being “amazed” the first time she heard the rain falling on a roof window again.
On the first results of his mission
Since her return to Earth, Sophie Adenot has undergone numerous samples. The objective is to complete the astronaut tracking data, before, during and after their stay on board the International Space Station. During a previous speech, on October 13, she said that the first results on her bone density and muscle mass are “absolutely breathtaking”. Thanks to a protocol of exercises and sports practice in particular, "not only [is there] no loss of bone density and no loss of muscle mass, but even in certain regions of the body, [we see] an increase in both", she declared. A total surprise. “We are overturning what we have been saying for years,” she commented. “We are waiting for the rest of the analyzes of course, but it will give incredible hope to many patients: those affected by osteoporosis, the elderly, not to mention degenerative diseases.”
“Training, I did it all the time at the same time, with the first energy of the morning when I really gave it my all,” Sophie Adenot detailed on Monday, describing resistance exercises carried out with increasingly heavy loads on a machine called Ared. “Bones, to increase in density, need heavy loads. This has been demonstrated by several scientific articles,” she explains. This contrasts with the practices and knowledge in force thirty years ago where “we were more fitness and cardio oriented,” she noted.
On his spacewalks
Sophie Adenot made her dream come true and achieved the holy grail of all astronauts by carrying out three extravehicular outings during her stay on board the ISS. If she claims not to have felt fear during the first, she recounted a specific moment, during the second, when she felt “overwhelmed” by the events. By taking an exotic path along the wall of the Station, she found herself at the front of the ISS, "right in front", with the Earth facing her.
"It's impressive to see only the Earth, the immensity of the Earth, this incredible blue and then the void. There was nothing else."
On his observations from the ISS
Asked about observations of the sky and space from the International Space Station, Sophie Adenot admitted that she was not the most qualified to talk about it but expressed an infectious enthusiasm. “What we can observe from the Cuppola is already the first contrast of black, of a truly impressive density,” she said. “The vacuum of space is black and it is dense, compared to the luminosity of the Earth.”
“We are used to seeing the constellations on Earth: the Big Dipper, the Little Dipper,” she recalled. But "from up there, we see thousands and thousands of them and it's much more difficult to recognize the constellations."
As for the Moon, it is not visible with different colors as from the ground, but "it appears sharper, purer because we do not see it through the atmosphere", she continued. “I remember splendid Moon sets where we could see the pink of the clouds, and the Moon going down. It was very moving, very beautiful, very spiritual too,” she added, also mentioning the “magnificent” Northern Lights evoking “a dancing green light.”
On the rest of his career
After a first mission studded with records, how does Sophie Adenot envisage the rest of her career as an astronaut? “I haven’t started negotiating anything,” she said. But when asked about the Artemis mission, which aims for the lasting return of man to the Moon, she recognized that setting foot on the Earth's natural satellite is a goal that haunts her.
"Yes, it makes me dream of going to walk on the Moon. But no, I won't make it a goal even if it means doing anything. No."
“I will remain upright and authentic,” she continued. “And if one day these missions should take me to the Moon, I will be delighted to do so and very honored to be entrusted with this great responsibility.”
One thing is certain: Sophie Adenot plans to stay active as long as possible. “After this space adventure, I am even more passionate about space exploration than I was,” she warned with a smile. “So you are not about to see me retire.”
