Do aliens exist? This is an existential question humans have been asking themselves for millennia. Despite the development of technology, the question unfortunately still remains unanswered. And yet, given the immensity of the Universe and the number of potentially habitable planets, some people cannot let go of the belief that aliens do exist.
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In an interview, French astronaut Thomas Pesquet tackled the question.
Who is is Thomas Pesquet?
Thomas Pesquet was born in Rouen, France in 1978. According to his page on the European Space Agency (ESA) website, Pesquet majored 'in spacecraft design and control'. Throughout his career, Thomas Pesquet has had other jobs. Indeed, in 2006 he became a pilot for Air France.
But in 2009, his life changed when he was selected to become an ESA astronaut. In 2016, he was launched for his first mission in space where he stayed for six months. The ESA states that 'highlights of his mission included two spacewalks'. His second mission was in 2021 when he went to the International Space Station for another six months. This tips included four spacewalks.
He currently holds the European record for 'most cumulative hours spent spacewalking'. He walked in space for '39 hours and 54 minutes'.
'There's no reason why we should be the only ones in the world'.
On Sunday 6 November, Thomas Pesquet was a guest on L'Interview Face Cachée with Hugo Décrypte, a French journalist and YouTuber. The former ISS resident opened up about several aspects of his life: how he reconciles his professional and private lives, his past results at school, the fear that a stay in space can represent, and so on.
During the interview, the YouTuber couldn't resist asking him the burning question: do aliens exist? This is what the astronaut had to say:
Extraterrestrials aren't little green men, if you like. Life in space, we don't forbid ourselves from thinking that it could exist elsewhere, in bacterial form...
There's no reason why we should be the only ones in the universe.
There are thousands if not billions of exoplanets, and we're going to carry out missions to Europa, which is a moon of Jupiter, because we know there's water there, there's a layer of ice, there's water underneath. We've seen geysers of water, so we think there's something there.
Aliens would not be like what you see in movies
It's quite clear, Thomas Pesquet isn't against the idea of aliens. But for the astronaut, it doesn't necessarily mean flying saucers, humanoids racing podracers or civilisations capable of harnessing the power of a star.
Whether developed or not, the discovery of life on another planet or moon would be a major breakthrough, radically changing our relationship with the universe and with life. Like Thomas Pesquet, we can't wait to see the results of these upcoming space missions.
This article has been adapted from Gentside France
Read more:
⋙ UFOs: The terrifying revelations of the first British astronaut
⋙ 'Non-human' corpses put on display at UFO convention (VIDEO)
⋙ Old archive from 1973 reveals secrets about a mysterious UFO seen by two men
Sources:
Youtube - HugoDécrypte - Grands Format: L'interview face cachée de Thomas Pesquet
European Space Agency: Thomas Pesquet
