Standing in line to take a selfie with astronaut Andre Kuipers

After just a few minutes, there was no longer any empty space in the Agora. His popularity was evident from the thunderous applause that followed Kuiper’s presentation.

Second space flight

Kuipers began by talking about his first spaceflight: the Delta mission, an eleven-day mission to the International Space Station (ISS). He thought that was too short and wanted nothing more than to live and work in space for a longer period of time. Its second spaceflight began on December 21, 2011. The journey lasted at least 193 days, and is the longest European spaceflight to date. “After years of training and hundreds of tests, I was finally ready for the flight. I was training every day underwater because you create the same feeling of floating as in space. The researchers ran all kinds of medical tests on me to see if I would be healthy during the long flight,” he said. “I felt like a guinea pig.”

Ambassador

From space, Kuipers had a very different view of the globe, and it became increasingly clear to him just how bad the state of nature was. “From above, you can see how forests are disappearing, how the atmosphere is becoming thinner and how air pollution is increasing above large cities.” So the astronaut decided to do more for Earth and became an ambassador for different organizations such as the World Wildlife Fund and the Red Cross. As an Ambassador, I work with organizations committed to biodiversity and sustainability. I have been trying to teach my four children from an early age how important our planet is. Ultimately, everyone must contribute to our future.

Future astronauts

Kuipers highlighted one specific segment of his performance; List of requirements for any “future astronauts” in the room. An astute assessment, because suddenly there was excitement and buzz everywhere in the previously silent room. “Who in this room wants to be an astronaut?” Kuipers asked. Almost everyone present raised their hands. “I expected that at such a technical university,” he said with a broad smile.

After the lecture, which lasted an hour and a half, it was time for the question and answer session. It became clear that the audience was impressed by Kuipers’ stories as dozens of hands shot into the air. One question was: How much will technology impact space travel? “The huge impact is that, without technology, space travel might not have existed at all.” He answered as many questions as he could, but it all came to an end. Although…many students stood in line too long to take selfies with celebrities.