wants to go to the moon 50 years after the 1st lunar landing and he's training to be one of the next astronauts to set foot on the moon and maybe the 1st european. lunar missions have taken a backseat for decades but now a new space race. if you didn't. get. it would. appearances can be deceiving this dusty landscape is not the moon but a volcanic surface on the spanish island of. maui

and french astronaut trainer. a gearing up for the next moon landing are they testing special equipment and gathering igneous rock which is similar to that found on the moon if mathias mera does make it to the moon he'll need to be able to identify everything he sees. no it wouldn't. and i think. that's the beauty of. this is what i was looking for but when i walk on the moon there will be many rocks there are rocks all around us. i know why should i bring this one and not the others well that's part of my training. on this in the volcano 2 days ago. but also. doesn't mean it's all of the mineral that comes from deep underground from close to the earth's mantle it's got

us in there this month this was the geologists are really keen on making a discovery like this on the moon of the month because samples like this could tell you a lot about the moon's composition. this morning. with the awfulness the hope of course is that someday i might find a great stone or sample like this on the moon and i feel. so much by just 5 minutes away on foot there's a command center this team is practicing how to communicate with astronauts on the moon and the scientists are in the blue tent next to it ground control. we are seeing sight even a single $1700.00. m. . looking still read about. it on the good. outside journalists awaiting them mainly from the local media they're interested in mathias moua the astronauts. could look at the yes down to the name where he recently

tweeted life isn't always fair my 2 good friends did all the hard work and only i got the attention. which after all the commotion my own returns to the desolate landscape. been here here when i'm walking on the surface of. i feel a bit as if i'm on the moon the moon on. i'm really getting to get there 1st one of the next and more laws about but i can tell from the technology that it's still a long way off and we've still got to learn a lot improve a lot. from our it is 49 he was born a year after the 1st moon landing some of these scoops state back to the apollo mission they are being tested here to see if they can be improved on we are in agreement with the break. it's been decades since astronauts have practiced a lunar landing. it had gone out of fashion for a time but now interest has revived all over the world the astronaut center in

cologne germany is part of the european space agency. we have so annoying that there's a new race to the moon that's not between the soviet union and the us like 50 years ago you know i'm going on this is much more of an economic race. it's about being the 1st to fly to the moon the 1st to achieve dominance in space it's various countries have realized that they can seize and create an economic advantage given in the 1st ones who can get there will make the rules that the u.s. of course wants to be 1st and stake its claim or the with china has taken them on so they want to land on the moon by 2030 and also to build their own space station that's one of. china is investing heavily in space travel so is learning mandarin as well as russian he wants to cooperate with chinese astronauts and eventually fly to their planned space station. woman

strong who are. both close to you can make beautiful things from plastic. this is what. the chinese mentality. you're going through your. door p.o. younger than she herself and 2 years ago mao to went to china for some training everything took place in mandarin. didn't hear the d. or the ocean in chinese the words for moon are always the same you're the 1st i thought it was you. i kept saying i wanted to fly to the un on. what i should have said you joe. i've advised if i can see the moon i have to say you are longer down there more like the moonlight is beautiful i have

a very low when i say i want to fly there i have to say you troll right. ok. ok. the chinese space capsule will have a weight limit for astronauts 75 kilos so fitness is a key part of training. this is a typical exercise that prepares you for space a space suit is so tight that you can practically only use your arms when there's a risk of injuring your shoulder muscles one is the cause of the fight as well so we do special exercises to strengthen all the tiny muscles not the big ones which i also don't have right now but the tiny ones on the inside of. some of the arch that . i was just last month this is what you need very often when you're doing evy a training ground is important internal pressure is 0.4 bar so just moving my hands takes the same effort is trying to squeeze

a tennis ball then we practice by taking heavy weights and walking around it's called the farm walk and farm work. and these aren't special exercises to ensure that astronauts are fit for the moon they still have to be developed these exercises were designed for the international space station mauer will most likely be going there soon but he still has his sights set on the moon. next stop is virtual new reality is practicing how to use the technology on the moon. before i was. here on the virtual noon the sky's the limit. pick one up. and you see how strong i am i was throwing towards. the scots i won.

i was the missing link i provided to dangerous. for them with so much training what is the biggest drawbacks of life as an astronaut. drawbacks there aren't any it's kind be i don't feel like i'm missing out on anything i'm really enjoying it i mean every day is different and the days are long and intense i put in more hours than an ordinary 40 hour work week but i enjoy it and i have the right to say it's getting to be too much but i enjoy it and it's a really interesting job. i love talking about it telling people what the training entails how we're preparing for the future. then telling people how important it is and sparking their enthusiasm. what we're doing these next 10 years will determine what directions things will take in space and who will come out on

top so to speak before we europeans have to be part of it you know thought. to spread the word maori does a lot of a travel to training sessions in china or norway or to a p.r. event in spain but today in berlin he takes the bus instead of a taxi. think of him as an astronaut my carbon footprint is bad enough as it is. that's how it is. that's. in the evening he has a little time off well almost like he's meeting d.d.'s schmidt a colleague from a cell. as i'm on one scoop of macadamia please and one blueberry cream

you know. so you know so what's his favorite flavor going to it but there isn't any today. this is blueberry ice cream in blueberries are supposed to be good for the eyes. it's making russian cosmonauts awfully blueberries in the station it can't hurt. i wish i didn't think of it i mean. it's a how's it look with our council this november. and that's a lot of changing of course the americans are no longer planning for 2028 but for 2024 years out there it's going along so. we need to make sure germans are involved also. germany and europe want to be a part of the u.s. is ambitious plan to send people to the moon by 2024. mathias mera is a 1000000000 planetarium to help convince politicians and business leaders to support the moon mission. and he might be there to see astronauts mathias

mel that it's great that you're here welcome. please complete the sentence i'm glad that people are going back to the moon because that's when because it will be an amazing adventure and not only for astronauts. with the right technology we can bring everyone along using virtual 3 d. technology that people can just put on a headset enjoin us when we explore the moon. everyone here agrees they all want to go to the moon but what america's real chances of landing on the moon. if you think there are 7 active astronauts in the european astronaut corps so you could say that i have a one in 7 chance. but i think it's a bit presumptious to say that i have such and such percent chance to sort of implode so you. know that's something you have to work towards over the next few years i'll have to work hard to make sure i'm in the pool of candidates this

includes as i'm going on elsewhere in russia. i'm not will depend on government policy in november he says council of ministers will decide whether to pump money into the race till then mathias merril will continue to dream of being the next person to set foot on the moon. small scale and simply be changed to suit the people making it possible. to call africa fantastic right. as they set out to safe environments. to learn from one another. and work together for the church. eco comfort go w. . i am.

diabetic. it's been 50 years since the moon landing. she was the 1st man to walk on the moon. as a small boy she dreamed of the stars. as a place she's seen anything no matter how dangerous it. is to go to the pole. as an astronaut he took part in the greatest adventure in history gamma neil armstrong was his destiny starts july 20th on t.w. cut.