ISS Welcomes First French National Astronaut, Questions Answered During Press Conference

Thomas Pesquet, 38, the first French national astronaut bound to aboard ISS by the European Space Agency. Pesquet will be accompanied by two veteran astronauts: Russian Cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy, 45, and American Peggy Witson, 56. The team is expected to blast off November 16 aboard a Soyuz aircraft. Pesquet, Novitskiy, and Witson will stay in space up until May 2017. The crew's objectives are to plan a range of experiments for their respective space agencies in cell biology, combustion, and muscle research.

Pesquet handles the press conference like a pro, even showing off his skills in speaking Russian, English, and French languages. He also mentioned that he would practice his saxophone once the instrument is available in space on the forthcoming cargo shipment, but is worried that members might not like his music.

Witson, a third-time space traveler, will assume the command of the space station. For Witson, going out to space is not an excuse to be a responsible citizen. She mentioned that they have the chance to vote early.

Pesquet excitement is very contagious; he even joked around saying that he could be a pain to everybody. Novitsky, however even stated, "I am envious of Thomas who is yet to enjoy it." Pesquet also explained how he gets a lot of mistakes during training, but due was lucky to have experienced colleagues.

The crew is expected to join American astronaut Shaine Kimbrough, and two Russian cosmonauts Andrei Borisenko and Sergey Ryzhikov who arrived at ISS last Friday. While the other three current ISS are bound to land in Kazakhstan this Sunday named Kate Rubins of NASA, Anatoly Ivanishin of Roscosmos, and Takuya Onishi of Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.

Pesquet, Novitsky, and Witson are of the ISS's 50th expedition since the year 2000.