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Good day, Tibor. This is Earth, and Budapest at the centre of it. Warm greetings to you. We need to clarify two things. Firstly, can I call you Tibor? Secondly, we’ve been told to avoid discussion of some topics. Please note the following: we cannot talk about politics, war, religion, advertising, gender, warming or pseudoscience. But these aren’t the important issues – what’s important is how you are, Tibor.
Tibor Kapu: Prime Minister, thank you very much for your welcome. I’m fine, thank you very much. It’s an honour to be able to speak not only to you today, but also to all the viewers. I’d also like to take this opportunity to welcome all our dear viewers and those present. Tibor is fine, but it can be anything else – I also answer to Tibi, especially in Nyíregyháza. As I’ve said, I’m very well, and we’re in the middle of a busy working day. And I’ll try to avoid the topics you’ve mentioned, as I’m not really familiar with any of them.
Tibor, I was seventeen years old when I saw Bertalan Farkas launched into space. In this respect I’m one step ahead of you, because you’re the second I’ve been able to see. Everyone down here now wants to be Tibor Kapu, and if I were a child, I probably would too. Do you feel that?
I arrived on board the space station after a 26-hour journey. We’d been in space for 26 hours, and I had an hour between the docking and the welcome ceremony. In that hour I managed to call my parents, whose voices I heard for the first time in about a day and a half. They told me what an impact the launch had had on Hungarians and the Hungarian nation. So after this I feel, and I’m extremely happy, that one of the most important goals of the mission – to reach the Hungarian people with this – has been achieved.
We’re very proud of you for reaching such heights. There’s a debate down here – sometimes even within the Government – about whether it makes sense for Hungary to get involved in the international space industry and in space missions. We see it from the ground level, only from down here. What do you think about this?
For me, it’s not even a question. It’s my belief and conviction that small countries like Hungary, small nations, can have the biggest dreams. Nowadays the space sector is an industry and scientific discipline in which you don’t need to be a big player in order to join. You only have to look at the members of the Ax-4 mission, the spending on Ax-4, and its crew members. Alongside me I have an American colleague, an Indian colleague, and a Polish colleague. The Poles can’t be said to be the greatest space nation, although India and America are way ahead of us; but I think this is a very good example of how we can create great things in international cooperation. This is one thing. The other is that by any reasonable calculation, the space industry is a rapidly flourishing sector. Virtually every cent or every forint that we invest now will pay for itself six times over later – which may sound really good to the numbers people. Despite being an engineer I’m not always one of them, and for me a much more appealing thought is how many people can be inspired by this in the future. Whatever I’ve achieved in my life, I’ve always achieved it by looking to my role models and their teachings. This is why I’m here now. Among those role models are my father and, of course, Bertalan Farkas. If we can have a similar effect on young Hungarians, I think we’ve already won.
Yes, the world is full of temptations, both better and worse. Thank you for showing children the better kind of temptation. Tibor, could you tell us a little about what you’re doing? What are you doing when you’re not talking to us?
I spend most of my days doing experiments. I can say I’m very lucky because with the Ax-4 mission we’ve come up with about sixty experiments, and out of those sixty, about twenty-five are experiments that I can do alone as a Hungarian. This is an amazingly high number. Within the HUNOR Programme our researchers have been working for years to put together this large number of experiments – and it’s not only a large number, but they’re also of enormous scientific value. And here we can actually include almost everything – especially dosimetry, i.e. radiation measurement, which as Hungarians is effectively our heritage in space. Bertalan Farkas took a Pille dosimeter onto the Salyut 6 space station, and today the third generation of this instrument is in service here at the International Space Station. So I’m working on dosimetry and a lot of other experiments. So now I’m on my fourth day on board the space station, if I’m counting right. I’ve sown the first set of pepper, radish and wheat seeds, and put them in place; I’ve also been examining the mushrooms that we’ve brought up, which will be more important for us later on in the DNA testing. So I could say that it’s a busy day of experiments. We’re practically in the middle of the working day now, at around half past eleven, Greenwich Mean Time, so that’s mainly it. And when I’m not working, I try to relax. Over the last four days, rest has consisted of chatting to the international colleagues who have welcomed us here. The International Space Station has a very famous module called the Cupola. It’s a module with seven windows that always look down towards the Earth. I started my day there at 4 a.m., for example, because I saw that at about that time we’d have a very good passage over Hungary. So I got up with the Hungarians, because it was sunrise in Hungary and for us. I could see Lake Fertő [or Neusiedl] very well, Kecskemét, Szeged, the southern part of Lake Balaton and Keszthely; but everything else was cloudy, so I might have to wait for the best view.
Tibor, one hears all sorts of things about weightlessness. I’d like to ask you if common sense functions in the conditions of weightlessness up there.
I like to think it functions. We need it, because our working days are really busy. But it’s a fact that weightlessness has a lot of so-called harmful side effects or effects on the human body. One of these effects is probably visible on my face, because – thanks to a so-called “fluid shift”, with the heart working much harder than it should – body fluids are effectively pushed up into the upper part of the body. So you also have a slight weakening of the muscles, and a slight lessening or lowering of bone density. And in addition to all these effects, there’s also the fact that your brain has to adapt to this new environment. This is called “space fog” in English, but since I’ve been learning about these things we haven’t translated it into Hungarian. I certainly felt it during the first three days. Here on the space station it’s very easy to lose things or lose track of time, but I’m doing my best. So far things have gone well.
The research you’re doing – about thirty experiments I believe – is Hungarian research. Who entrusted you with it? Universities, private companies? Who are the people behind the research?
The Prime Minister has practically said everything for me. Hungarian universities, Hungarian research groups, Hungarian companies are involved in these projects. You could practically list every university, from ELTE to BME, Szeged, Debrecen and Pécs; and there are Hungarian companies that have been major players in the international space industry – but we also have new players. For us in the HUNOR Programme this is a tremendous, great joy, because we can say that there are companies and researchers that have entered the space world through the programme. But of course we also needed those of our researchers who have decades of experience.
Now, when we’re talking to each other, can you see us? Or can we only see you?
I’m afraid that it’s only you who can see me.
I was wondering what we look like from up there. I heard you might take some photos. What will you take photos of, what photos will you bring back to us?
That’s exactly the answer I wanted to give to the previous question, because everyone in Hungary is looking good from up here. I’ve had several opportunities to see the Carpathian Basin. About ten or so hours after our launch, we had a check-in from our Dragon capsule, our Dragon space capsule, when we hadn’t yet arrived at the space station and couldn’t yet dock. During that live check-in we were flying or orbiting over Hungary – which, if I remember correctly, showed in my speech, because I was quite emotional and not really prepared for those moments. So for months and years I’ve been talking about what it will probably feel like and what feelings will probably come over me when I see the Carpathian Basin from above. Now I can proudly say that these are truly emotional moments. The other is that I woke up at 4 o’clock this morning with the Hungarians, and I want to capture these moments in every way possible. I hope that I’ll see the Carpathian Basin both by day and by night. I don’t consider myself the best photographer, but I’ll do my best.
Tibor, what speed are you going at?
We’re currently travelling at 28,000 kilometres per hour. This speed is just enough to effectively circle the Earth, to maintain orbit around the Earth. This means that we’re 400 kilometres high up here, and there’s still gravity here, but we’re going sideways so fast that I could say that we’re always going round the Earth. We know that the Earth is spherical, which means that, to put it simply, while we’re falling one metre, we are also going sideways one metre, and this is why we’re practically floating in zero gravity all the time – as you can see from the microphone in front of me. I hope my voice is still audible. And because of this speed we’re changing position very quickly. When I looked down at the beginning of this conversation we were over the Great Lakes of Michigan, flying to New York, and it was daytime. Now we’re well into the middle of the Atlantic, which Gábor Rakonczay has recently crossed for the umpteenth time. And in about twenty minutes we’ll be entering another dark zone, because here on board the space station the days and nights change about sixteen times a day.
Tibor, what are your colleagues like? Are they treating you well, are they friendly? And what language do they speak?
My colleagues are treating me well, and I’m treating them well. We look after each other – perhaps that’s the most important thing. Our American commander, Peggy Whitson, came up with the mission. She’s the most experienced American astronaut, with 675 days in space – and now those days are being added to incrementally, they’re increasing day by day. I came up together with my other colleagues: our Indian pilot Shubhanshu Shukla, and Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski from Poland – who, like me, is a mission specialist on the mission. And in addition to these there are the people we’ve met here, who are a mixture of Americans, Russians and Japanese. They’re the space station’s permanent staff, and there are seven of them. So now there are four plus seven of us, eleven people aboard the space station, representing six nations. What’s more, seven of these eleven people are in space for the first time – which to me is a very good indication of how much the space industry is expanding and how much of a boom we’re talking about in that regard. I really like my colleagues on the mission with me, and I really hope they like me. We’ve been studying and training together for a year now, and we’ve got a lot of things under our belts. I can say that we’re one of the happiest crews to ever go into space.
And what are they feeding you? And have you been able to take any proper food up there?
I could bring food up with me. I also have Piros Arany [Hungarian paprika paste] and strong paprika, which I’m very proud of. One reason for my pride is that the food here is generally low in salt. Unfortunately, salt contributes to bone loss, and here, of course, bone loss, loss of bone density, is increased on board the space station. So we can’t eat very salty food. These are all packaged foods, some of which generally don’t have water in them, or have to be supplemented with water or reheated, and some of which are freeze-dried foods. These are all high-calorie foods, but ones that were easy to bring up because of they don’t contain water. And to give them a taste, we thought we’d bring up some Piros Arany and strong paprika, Erős Pistá [strong Hungarian paprika paste] for them. So when we’ve left after two weeks, that will stay here for the permanent staff, and that will also help to further boost the reputation of the Hungarians.
Tibor, one of the most attractive things about my job is that I have to see things as a whole. There are the ministries, they’re separate, and I have to see the whole thing as one, with all the Hungarians and the whole Carpathian Basin. But you’re in an even better position than me, because you see the whole world at once. Do you feel that this is a special experience? It’s something that no Hungarian has ever had, except my big brother Berci Farkas and you.
It really is a special experience, even if only in the sense that I came here as part of an international team. Within minutes of the launch we saw how beautiful our Earth is, how colourful and much, much brighter than I would have thought. And except for a dozen or so people, because there are two space stations orbiting the Earth at the moment, everyone else is down there on our only planet. It certainly makes you think. I’d like to share some of my most important and most meaningful experiences of this later, but I feel that it’s an extraordinary experience.
Tibor, we’re running out of time. One more thing I’d like to ask: can you see the war from up there?
From up here I can only see beautiful and good things. I can tell you that honestly: only beautiful colours, only beautiful clouds and beautiful cities. So that’s all I’ve seen so far.
We’re doubly envious of that. Thank you very much for the opportunity to talk to you, Tibor. God be with you. I wish you much strength and good health. We look forward to seeing you back home again.
Thank you very much for the conversation. I’ll be on my way back and I hope we can talk when I’m back home. My best wishes to everyone!
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