The Heureka Science Centre in Vantaa played host to a galactic event Friday evening, when 300 people gathered to witness a live interview with the Commander of the International Space Station. Astronaut Timothy Lennart Kopra who visited Heureka in 2010 on a trip to Finland, suggested the half-hour correspondence weeks ago, after which the national U.S. space administration NASA provided a direct link to make the interview possible.
Heureka staff reported that over 100 questions were submitted before the event, 18 of which were asked of Kopra.
“A lot of people wanted to know if the astronauts were afraid to be out in space. Others were interested in Kopra’s personal feelings: how his space travels had affected his world view, for example,” said Tapio Koivu, Heureka’s director.
A congenial and relaxed host, Kopra answered that he should probably be more scared that he is.
“Although I wouldn’t say that there’s fear among us, I would say that before very dynamic events like a launch or a spacewalk, there’s a lot of anticipation and so I would say that we’re tense. But because of our training base, I think all of us are very focused on just getting the job done,” he said.
Quite alone
The Finnish audience also asked Korpa what he does in his free time at the station. He replied that on Saturday, for example, he was looking forward to sleeping in. He then had vacuum duty, an important task at the station.
“Then I thought I would take some pictures and of course call home,” he replied.
Finns were also interested in claustrophobia in the cramped space station, where several astronauts have to live together for extended periods.
“Actually the International Space Station feels quite spacious, as the lack of gravity allows us to use all the surfaces as a floor. We can float above each other to pass, for example,” Kopra explained.
The Commander describes how being in space has given him a new appreciation for our interconnected world with its beautiful cities at night and vast lightening storms.
“Something else that may not be as obvious is the fact that when you look out beyond Earth and you look at the black that’s beyond the lit Earth, it makes you recognize that really, we’re quite alone. The next heavenly body, besides our moon, is very, very far away.”
Heading home soon
Kopra started his second mission at the International Science Centre in mid-December 2015, and is scheduled to return on June 5 of this year. At this time, Kopra and his colleagues at the station, the European Space Agency’s British astronaut Timothy Peake and the Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko will have spent a total of 174 days together in weightless space.
As a descendant of a Finnish father, Kopra made a trip to Finland with his family in 2010, when he also visited the Heureka Science Centre. Before he signed off after the half-hour interview, he said that he hoped he would meet the Finns interested in space travel when he returned to Earth.
“Of course we want to hold him to his word, we would love for him to visit again,” says Koivu.
Click here to see video footage of the entire interview.