Meet Pedro Duque

The STS-95 mission lasted nine days. Pedro was responsible for 29 European experiments out of the 80 carried out by the crew. Among the European experiments, were four Spanish experiments looking at the growth of protein crystals and materials under conditions of weightlessness. The results of these experiments were very satisfactory. For example, the Spanish researchers obtained high quality crystals using new techniques, which could eventually be used, among other things, in the design of new molecules for the pharmaceutical industry.

During the mission, the Mission Control in Houston selected music to play to the crew. In honour of Pedro, Nat King Cole’s Cachito was played, chosen by Pedro’s wife because it is about fatherhood – their youngest child was five weeks old at the time.

On his return, Pedro explained how full his days were on Discovery, especially bearing in mind that many apparently simple tasks sometimes become complicated because of weightlessness. For example, Pedro said that eating was sometimes difficult, given the risk that a simple drop could float away and spoil something important. Despite this, there was plenty of time on board Discovery for the crew to enjoy a dinner “upside down”.

Pedro also spoke of the sensation of a “full stomach” and the headache that he suffered initially but which, by the end of the first day, had already passed. He exercised every day to avoid the loss of muscle mass and the calcium deficiency that often affects astronauts.

Here are some extracts from his impressions:

• On Pedro's first dawn on board: “I realised that we were far away and I admired the colour of the Earth, red and yellow, and the atmosphere, grey, that blends with the colour of space.”

• One of the most gratifying aspects of his profession is “the contact with the scientists and the vanguard of technology; our work consists of attending their lessons and then acting as their laboratory assistant in the experiments during the flights.”