An unusual interview. Brad Pitt played the role of a journalist. He talked to an astronaut from the ISS

A twenty-minute interview appeared on the official NASA YouTube channel in which Hollywood star Brad Pitt asks questions to Nick Hague, an astronaut from the International Space Station. This is a combination of the promotional campaign of the film Ad Astra, whose Polish premiere is on September 20. The interview is also educational. From the conversation you can learn many secrets of life on the ISS.

“Now that we’re finally connected, it’s time to talk about me,” Brad Pitt began. The words brought laughter from NASA’s legendary spaceflight control center.

After an introduction that relaxed the atmosphere, the actor began to ask probing questions that were intended to demystify the astronauts’ work and show them from a human side.

– How do you manage to maintain the Earth’s circadian rhythm if you see 16 sunrises and sunsets a day? – asked the actor.

– We try to live in the Earth’s circadian rhythm. To make this possible, we use various instruments and techniques. We use covers and lamps that allow us to generate light of varying intensity. In the morning they glow light blue, and as the earth’s circadian cycle and the day progress, the light becomes warmer and warmer until it turns yellow in the evening. – explained Nick Hague, an astronaut from the ISS. – We operate on Greenwich Mean Time at the station. It allows us to standardize, which is necessary when command centers are located in Houston, Alabama, Germany, Japan and Canada. All of them operate according to the same time – added the astronaut.

– Do you have the night shift then? – the actor asked. – we work 12 hours a day. We get up around 7:30 a.m. and finish work at 7:30 p.m. Yes, we also have night shift. On Earth, the station is controlled by a huge team that manages 95 percent. what is happening on the ISS. This job goes on 24 hours a day, seven days a week – explained the astronaut. – Thanks to this cooperation, we have managed to operate this station for two decades – added.

Scientific experiments and service work

One of the actor’s questions concerned the daily duties of the crew of the International Space Station. – Every day, each of us deals with various types of scientific experiments and research. Our responsibilities also include carrying out service work and repairs that are necessary for the station’s continued operation – Hague said. – we are working, for example, on producing a new type of rubber that could be used to produce tires in the future. On the other hand, we worked on modifying genes that could contribute, among others, to: for the treatment of cancer or Alzheimer’s disease – added.

– 200 days in space is a great experience, but certainly mentally taxing. How do you deal with missing your loved ones, for example? – Pitt asked.

– Being separated from family and friends is a great challenge. One of the luxuries of working in Earth orbit is the high possibility of contact with the Earth. We can make phone calls. Every weekend I can also have a video conference with my children and just find out what’s going on with them. I also share with them my experiences from space, the astronaut explained.

– The biggest lesson I learned from this mission was the belief that cooperation is needed to achieve success, the astronaut said. – Thank you for what you do by creating such videos. You are the one who inspires the next generations to become astronauts and set foot on Mars –he added at the end.