Public lecture with ESA astronaut Dr. Alexander Gerst

What does it feel like when an entire planet turns into a small blue marble in the face of infinity? What does our home Europe look like from space? How do you sleep in zero gravity? What does it trigger in a person when he or she sees wars, environmental destruction and hurricanes from above with their own eyes, without being able to do anything about it? How do you live in space for a year? And what will be man's next step out into the universe?

In Alexander Gerst's lecture, the experienced ESA astronaut and commander of the International Space Station shares his observations of Earth from space and describes life on the ISS using many photos and videos. The lecture also offers an outlook on the planned exploration of the moon and beyond. It will show how scientific research and international cooperation in space lead to new insights and provide a new, inspiring view of our blue planet.

• Name: Alexander Gerst
• Born: May 3, 1976, Künzelsau, Germany
• Occupation: ESA astronaut, geophysicist
• Education: Geophysics (Karlsruhe), Earth Science (New Zealand), Volcanology (Hamburg, Ph.D. in 2010)
• ESA Career: Since 2009; first spaceflight in 2014 (Blue Dot Mission); second spaceflight in 2018 (Horizons Mission); first German ISS commander
• Current position: Head of the “Astronaut Operations” department at the European Astronaut Center, Cologne (since 2023)
• Hobbies: Paragliding, mountain biking, hiking, rock climbing, scuba diving
• Awards: Grand Cross of Merit, Humboldt Gold Medal, Senckenberg Prize, Westphalian Peace Prize.