“Markus Lanz” talks to Germany’s record-breaking astronaut Alexander Gerst about the special planet we live on.
Hamburg – At “Markus Lanz”* there are “two adventurers” on Wednesday evening. The host announces the astronaut Alexander Gerst and the science journalist Lars Abromeit. Gerst, who holds the European Space Agency (ESA) record of 362 days in space, has been committed to environmental protection for years. He co-wrote the books Horizons and 166 Days in Space with Abromeit. The duo has known each other since a volcano expedition in 2005, and together with the moderator, they look at several videos on the joint research.
Lanz is interested in the psychological stress that can arise in lonely places like Antarctica or outer space. Gerst reports on his second expedition to the Arctic, during which he was supposed to set up a seismometer in the ice. The pilot dropped him and a colleague at the appropriate place and was supposed to pick them up again later. It became clear to him that he was in the middle of nowhere, says Gerst: “We were surrounded by 800 kilometers of nothing. In every direction. No living thing. Not even an insect, nothing.”
In “Markus Lanz” ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst explains the loneliness in space: “The earth is just a stone ball”
Lanz explains that more than half of the important climate data is now generated in space. Gerst says that without this data, climate change and the danger it poses cannot be understood. This is why the Copernicus satellite system from ESA and the European Union is so important: “We simply have to trust the data. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that things you can’t see aren’t there. And that’s why we have these satellite eyes.”
But some things can also be seen with the naked eye from space, such as melting glaciers, drying up lakes and cleared rainforests. The access roads and cleared areas would eat their way into the Amazon jungle “like a cancerous growth”. In just four years, which lay between his two ISS missions in 2014 and 2018, rapid progress could be observed in many of these processes. All astronauts are “shocked when we see the planet from the outside for the first time. How small it actually is, although you are still relatively close. You suddenly realize: This is just a stone ball with a thin biosphere encased.”
“Markus Lanz”: Environmental destruction and climate change – Astronaut Gerst: “Can’t dodge like locusts”
“And a topsoil that, Dirk Steffens once told me, is only 30 centimeters thick on average. Those 30 centimetres: That’s what feeds us,” says host Lanz. Gerst agrees and emphasizes the uniqueness of the atmosphere. If you are traveling in a normal passenger plane, you already have two thirds of the atmosphere below you. Being confronted with this realization is a “brutal reality”, says Gerst, because you know: “otherwise there is only black nothing.”
Before his first mission into space, he thought he was going to a special place, explains Gerst. It was only when he got there that he realized that the earth was actually a special place. There is no alternative to protecting it: “It is not the case that we explore other planets because we think we can dodge like locusts when we have destroyed the planet. We do space exploration because we want to protect this planet.”
Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson: The private race for space has long since begun
Talkmaster Lanz says he finds this approach better than that of Silicon Valley, where the idea of a human-inhabited Mars is very popular. Gerst dismisses the fact that “them” will also be aware that one cannot “just live like that” on the Red Planet. Lanz replies that Elon Musk* and Co. have geoengineering in mind, specifically manipulating Mars and its atmosphere in order to enable human life. Gerst is not convinced by this, at least the state space agencies would not pursue this goal, but would explore our neighboring planets in order to be able to better understand our existence as a whole.
Or the existence of extraterrestrial life. Gerst says: “I’m sure everyone has asked themselves the question, are we alone in the universe or is there life out there?” Talkmaster Lanz then wanted to know what kind of answer to this question he “believes “. Gerst laughs and says he doesn’t know. As a scientist, he cannot be satisfied with ‘believe’, ‘I want to find out. And we have the chance, in all of our lifetimes, to perhaps answer that question.”
Mars, moon, earth – ESA space traveler Gerst wishes “Markus Lanz” had more appreciation for the blue planet
If, for example, as Gerst explains, traces of life are found on Mars, “be it extinct or existing life”, the consequences would be far-reaching. If mankind finds that life exists on Mars at “first glance outside the box”, this means “that the universe is just blooming with life.” Because Mars was also habitable a long time ago, the Ask what happened there and if there are lessons to be learned for Earth.
Talkmaster Lanz, on the other hand, thinks it is “already legitimate” to open up new habitats, after all there is an increasing risk that we will destroy our own biosphere. Gerst, on the other hand, thinks that a six-month stay on the ISS would not hurt people who would book a one-way ticket to Mars: “Just to get this appreciation back, how awesome it is here.” In space, you learn the everyday to miss, like rain or the smell of parsley.
“Markus Lanz” – these were his guests on March 9th:
- Alexander Gerst – astronaut
- Lars Abromeit – Science journalist
The moon is also currently back in focus, and little is known about its nearest neighbor. It is clear that the Trabant was created “out of the earth”, “but we have to find out more about it.” A corresponding project is imminent, the Gateway project. To this end, ESA and NASA are jointly building the Orion spacecraft, which is to be used to set up stations in space around the moon.
From there you want to go to the surface of the moon. In the 21st century, it should be about “sustainable research and not just ramming a flag into the moon.” Europe wants to fly to the moon three times by the end of the decade, but whether Gerst will be there and step on it is not yet known clear. But the thought of it puts a beaming grin on the astronaut’s face: “Of course I wouldn’t say no.”
“Markus Lanz” – The conclusion of the show
“Markus Lanz” is a 45-minute short version on Wednesday evening that gives space to the human fascination for the universe. The astronaut Alexander Gerst is the incarnation of this fascination and, in his blue ESA suit, exudes enthusiasm for space travel and science. Talkmaster Markus Lanz is also infected by his enthusiasm for the unknown and his curiosity. Science journalist Lars Abromeit shares this esprit for science, but also concern for planet earth. (Hermann Racke) *Merkur.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA.
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