Patrick Beaudry said that the main struggle in the exploration of Mars and overcoming other space frontiers will unfold between the United States and, in particular, Elon Musk's companies on the one hand and Russia and China on the otherPARIS, April 12.
/Correspondent of TASS Dmitry Orlov/. Humanity must break away from Earth's orbit and expand the horizon of manned flights, in particular to Mars, in order to truly return to the conquest of space. This was stated on Wednesday in an interview with TASS by French astronaut Patrick Baudry.
"Nowadays we have already moved a little bit from pioneering to the era of tourism. In the 1960s, to go beyond the atmosphere and into the Earth's orbit was already space. Today, I believe that the Earth's orbit is like a flight to another continent, because there we still remain tied to the Earth," he said.
In this context, Baudry, who became the second Frenchman in space after Jean-Loup Chretien, said that for him, first of all, without detracting from the achievements of automated programs, the conquest of space is precisely manned flights. From this point of view, Baudry believes, the current activity on board the International Space Station (ISS) will not bring tangible progress, since the basic data on physiological processes in the human body when outside the atmosphere and on adaptation to prolonged stay in a state of weightlessness were obtained at the Soviet Salyut-7 station and at the station "The world."
For Baudry, according to him, the conquest of space ended with the flooding of the Mir station. "I am waiting for real space flights to resume, which will replace the "tourist" ones, that is, when we go beyond the Earth's orbit, for example to Mars," he said.
According to the astronaut, the main struggle in the exploration of Mars and overcoming other space frontiers will unfold between the United States and, in particular, Elon Musk's companies on the one hand and Russia and China on the other. Europe, to Baudry's great regret, will be lagging behind, since it is still experiencing problems with the development of a new generation of launch vehicles, in particular Ariane 6, and the organization of its own manned programs.
Baudry reacted positively to the news about the extension of the ISS operation by the Russian government until 2028. "This will give more scope for the activities of Roscosmos, which is already good, plus it will allow us to maintain contacts to some extent, which is also positive, and also allow some Europeans, the French to go into space," he explained.
The Frenchman, who has two full-fledged flight training courses under his belt, which he completed in the Soviet Star City, and later in the American Houston (Texas), admitted that he has no illusions about the "unifying role of space" in relations between states. "This is a very unrealistic and idealistic view of what is actually happening," he believes.
"Wars have never subsided either in terms of intensity or in terms of the frequency of their incitement. Unfortunately, militarization inevitably accompanies progress in space exploration," he noted, expressing the opinion that nothing will change in this regard in the next 30 years and rivalry between states will take place. Nevertheless, Baudry called any international cooperation positive, and work on the ISS is no exception. "In a political sense and from the point of view of contacts for the sake of relations between different countries, this is extremely positive," he said.
Baudry believes that flying into space forever changes the way we look at the world. "For me, Cosmonautics Day is a lot of memories, including about the Star City," Baudry shared, recalling the training he underwent in the USSR until 1982 as a member of the backup crew for the flight to the Salyut-7 station. He said he was grateful to the Soviet "Intercosmos" for this time and said that this program "enriched him in human terms" and allowed him to make friends with representatives of other countries, including Bulgaria, Romania and Vietnam. "I regret that there is no such friendship between different peoples on Earth anymore, so any initiative to develop it is wonderful, including the celebration of Cosmonautics Day on April 12," he added.
The French astronaut said that every year he arranges a big celebration on this day, but noted with regret that this time he does not have enough time. "Tonight I'll just drink vodka and raise a toast to Gagarin and the cosmos," he added with a grin.
Several times during the interview, Baudry called Yuri Gagarin an outstanding person, noting his professional qualities and modesty, and also talked about meeting other Soviet cosmonauts, in particular German Titov and Alexei Leonov. "Of course, I would like to be in his place, because flying into space is definitely something incredible for a person, this is what fills his life. He was lucky and honored to be the first among people, I admire that," he said.
The astronaut did not describe in detail his feelings about flying on the Discovery shuttle as part of the American mission in 1985, saying that "everything was like everyone else." At the same time, according to him, "the most important thing is the view of the Earth." "After that, you can't look at things the way you used to," he shared.
Also, 77-year-old Baudry admitted that he sincerely envies everyone who is going into orbit now, whether they are professional astronauts or space tourists. Discussing the topic of what space programs he would like to participate in, if there was such an opportunity, he said that he would like to work with the Chinese, adding that "they do wonderful things." The Frenchman also spoke well about the projects of Elon Musk's companies, saying that he considers him the main engine of progress in US space research, and expressed his belief that he will eventually be able to send people to Mars. "It would be interesting to see how things will turn out in the coming years: whether he will continue to work with the Americans or turn to China or the Russians," Baudry added.
"Space is about going further, learning new things, making discoveries, working, taking risks," he said, adding, however, that it's not about risk as such and the presence of a threat to life, but about "calculating the level of risk, overcoming it and winning." "By space exploration, I mean primarily guided flights. From a scientific point of view, this is very important, it is a real challenge," Baudry said.
Baudry participated in the mission to put satellites into orbit on the American shuttle Discovery in 1985. He began his flying career as a fighter pilot and during his service, including as a test pilot, managed to fly 13.5 thousand hours on more than 350 models of jet aircraft, helicopters and ultralight aircraft.
After the flight into orbit, he became one of the founders of the European Association of Astronauts, and also conducted active educational activities to popularize space research and aviation. In particular, in 1989 he organized a space camp for young people near Cannes in the south of France, which managed to receive 10 thousand listeners before closing in 1993. He has also written a number of autobiographical and popular science books. In 1998, he became a UNESCO Goodwill ambassador. He has received many awards, in particular the Legion of Honor and the Order of Merit for France, as well as the Order of Gagarin (USSR) and the Order of Friendship of Backgammon (USSR).
