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In conversation with an astronaut

Jessie Wingard, Darmstadt, GermanyMarch 19, 2016

Thomas Reiter, a former astronaut and now director for Human Spaceflight and Robotic Exploration at the European Space Agency, joined DW to talk about life in space and answer some poignant questions about the cosmos.

https://p.dw.com/p/1IFxZ
Astronaut Thomas Reiter in der ISS
Image: picture-alliance/Nasa/Tv

Former German astronaut Thomas Reiter holds the record for the longest serving non-American or non-Russian person to live on the International Space Station, so he knows what he's talking about when it comes to outer space.

Deutschland Darmstadt Thomas Reiter bei European Space Agency
Image: DW/J. Wingard

Reiter is now responsible for all manned and unmanned mission operations to space in his role as head of the European Space Agency's Human Spaceflight and Robotic Exploration division.

Thomas Reiter sat down with DW's Jessie Wingard at the ESA to talk about life in space.

The ESA, in conjunction with the Russian Space Agency, RosCosmos, launched their first ever unmanned spacecraft on Monday to test Mars' atmosphere both for evidence that life once existed on the Red Planet, and whether Martian life still exists there.

DW was at the ESA for the launch of the mission to our planetary neighbor, Mars - take a listen to our broadcast below.