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COURTESY OF NASA<br />
the whole way around the moon. And<br />
there is a long, drawn-out scene when<br />
they crash into the asteroid – it must go<br />
on for 30 seconds. A crash doesn’t take<br />
30 seconds. That makes me crazy.<br />
Could the aviation industry<br />
learn from the space industry?<br />
Historically it has been the other way<br />
around, with the space industry being a<br />
spin-off from aviation. Flight engineers<br />
and pilots were behind the fi rst space missions.<br />
But research about weightlessness<br />
can be of use to aviation as people fl y<br />
higher and higher. And there are exciting<br />
new materials, like a new alloy developed<br />
by the space industry which will be used<br />
in airplane engines to save weight, and<br />
that saves fuel.<br />
You are 55 now. Could you cope<br />
with another journey into space?<br />
Yes. You don’t need to be as strong as<br />
people think. The only physically demanding<br />
bit is the acceleration on liftoff but<br />
most people in perfect health can handle<br />
that. On space walks, you might need<br />
some physical strength because hatches<br />
and stuff can get stuck. The most impor-<br />
The Gear<br />
The fi rst time I traveled to the<br />
Space Station, I took along a<br />
Frisbee I had designed myself.<br />
I wanted to see how it worked<br />
in zero gravity. I was part of<br />
introducing Frisbee sport to<br />
Sweden and won a gold medal<br />
for “maximum time aloft”<br />
in the 1978 Swedish championships.<br />
I might still pack a<br />
Frisbee on my vacation trips.<br />
5 MUST-DO<br />
Earth-bound space attractions<br />
Kennedy Space Center, Orlando, USA<br />
This is where it all starts. An obvious stop for everyone<br />
who grew up in the Space Age, it also has a fun<br />
souvenir shop.<br />
www.kennedyspacecenter.com<br />
Space Museum, Moscow, Russia<br />
You get real respect for the fi rst Russian cosmonauts<br />
when you see their vessels, which almost look<br />
homemade.<br />
www.space-museum.ru<br />
CERN, Geneva, Switzerland<br />
Not space-related in the traditional sense, but if you<br />
are the least bit interested in physics, guided tours<br />
tant thing is that you are in perfect health<br />
so you don’t take any bacteria to the<br />
space station.<br />
When will space charters<br />
become a reality?<br />
If you mean shorter trips in an Earth orbit,<br />
then they are already here. If the Russians<br />
have any spaces left over on their space<br />
missions they usually sell them. It usually<br />
costs $20-30 million. And Richard<br />
Branson and his Virgin Galactic always<br />
say “next year.” They’ve been saying that<br />
for a few years now but the safety issue is<br />
much more important with tourists. They<br />
need more preparation. So once again,<br />
it’s just a question of money because<br />
we already have the technology and the<br />
knowledge.<br />
Should we return to the moon,<br />
or do we already know everything<br />
there is to know about it?<br />
It is defi nitely important and reasonable<br />
to go there again. We have a lot to learn<br />
there. And you could build telescopes<br />
there to see even further out into space.<br />
Visiting the moon is also an important<br />
preparation for future Mars expeditions.<br />
though the laboratories at CERN are a must.<br />
www.outreach.web.cern.ch/outreach<br />
THE TRAVELER<br />
Visualization Center C, Norrköping, Sweden<br />
Here they are good at making physics and science<br />
understandable, partly through their 3D fi lms.<br />
www.visualiseringscenter.se<br />
Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum,<br />
Washington DC, USA<br />
The Smithsonian gives you a clear picture of all<br />
the developments over the years, thanks to its<br />
large collection of airplanes and spacecraft.<br />
www.airandspace.se.edu/museum<br />
When I was accepted as an astronaut in<br />
1992 I always thought that I would get to<br />
fl y to the moon but for political and fi nancial<br />
reasons there haven’t been any more<br />
moon shots. And now it is too late for<br />
me. About one European a year gets into<br />
space and it won’t be my turn again for a<br />
while.<br />
When do you think that we<br />
will be back on the Moon?<br />
I think we will be there again in 12 years. It<br />
is just a question of who it will be. In China,<br />
it is a little easier to take political decisions<br />
about going for it, so they will probably<br />
be the fi rst. They will have their own<br />
space station around 2020. And I think<br />
we will see humans on Mars in around 25<br />
years. We already have the technology. It<br />
is just the fi nancial and political will that is<br />
stopping us.<br />
What do people sitting next<br />
to you on planes say when you<br />
tell them you are an astronaut?<br />
I usually say I work with physics research,<br />
which is true. I am head of research at<br />
ESA. After that I don’t often get so many<br />
more questions!<br />
SCANORAMA DECEMBER 2012/JANUARY 2013 37<br />
37
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