Japanese astronaut Norishige Kanai came back to earth last month but still dreams of l & # 39, space especially after the discovery of a "I was so excited by the news," said Friday the 41-year-old doctor in an interview with AFP, the "caller" a major discovery ".
The Japanese astronaut Norishige Kanai spent 168 days on the Space Station International (AFP / Kazuhiro NOGI / International astronomers announced Wednesday that they have detected the largest volume of liquid water ever found on the red planet, a breakthrough that could reveal whether life has already formed on March – or even exists today
Kanai, who spent 168 days on the International Space Station, is firmly convinced that we are not alone in the universe and that there is of life there.
"I believe there are," he said. "In the vast universe, everything could be possible."
"J & # 39; have high hopes that the discovery of extraterrestrial life forms could open a new page in learning ge. "
The soft-spoken spaceman, nicknamed" Nemo "as a diving doctor of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, he exploded in space for the first time in December
Pains of Growth
In the footsteps of other media astronauts, Kanai tweeted
But his foray into social media accompanied some growth difficulties: he was obliged to apologize and make a correction after falsely claiming that he had grown nine centimeters a few weeks after his arrival
. ] When a colleague suggested that growth was unlikely, despite the fact that astronauts' spines were expanding in the space-free environment, Norishige had remeasured himself.
It turned out that there was confusion about the centimeters and he said on Friday that he had actually grown only two or three centimeters during his stay.
He has shrunk since returning to Earth on June 3, but he is still a centimeter taller, he said. 19659004] "It's interesting to see how long it will take to get back to my original size."
Kanai, whose Twitter profile represents him in comic strip form with a broad smile, concedes that he was not always the most likely candidate The Japanese space agency JAXA, although Being the youngest astronaut in the agency,
was a boy "reserved, cautious" rather than adventurous.
"I was a grandmother boy," he said. "When she was sewing, we did it together." I had a childhood a little "girlie."
But one of the skills that he acquired as a child was Was found to have a surprising application during the JAXA strict selection process.
In the final selection phase, 10 candidates spend a week in a capsule performing various tasks, including folding paper cranes, which the Agency says it has patience and stability under stress
Fortunately, Kanai was a hand at the origami of his childhood
Space for All ]
" I do not know if it gave me an advantage … but I knew how to do it. I am adroit and like doing small repetitive tasks. This task was easy for me, "he said.
While speaking, he cleverly folded a piece of origami paper into a crane, without even seated himself on a table to support him
While Kanai now belongs to an elite group of astronauts, he is eager to see the space become more accessible.
"I think space n & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; Is not just for "I welcome the idea of a" nice "space or interesting ideas from private companies to use the space."
He does not know yet where he will be chosen for new missions and admits that he had mixed emotions while returning to Earth last month.
"I felt sorry that it ended, but I was so glad that I finally return to Japan because six months is long.
" I had complex feelings , half-happy, half-sad. "