Big Ideas The life of astronauts — with 2026 Australian of the Year Katherine Bennell-Pegg
Feb 19, 2026
Tibor Kapu, Hungarian mechanical engineer and recent astronaut; Koichi Wakata, veteran Japanese commander with 500+ days in space; Joseph Acaba, NASA chief astronaut involved in Artemis; Katherine Bennell-Pegg, Australian Space Agency director and 2026 Australian of the Year. They discuss astronaut selection and intense training. They talk teamwork, coping with isolation, commercial space and spacesuit design. Re-entry and spacewalk experiences are also covered.
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Six Days In A Container Simulator
- Tibor Kapu tells of isolation training in containers simulating ISS conditions with no sun or showers for six days.
- He says the experience revealed personal limits and taught resilience under stress.
Learning English With Moonwalker Help
- Koichi Wakata recalls struggling with English early in training and peers helping him in simulators and jet flights.
- He credits that support for building confidence and later applying the same method to learn Russian.
Address Crew Issues Early
- Communicate early and honestly with crewmates to prevent small issues becoming major conflicts.
- Joseph Acaba stresses giving feedback promptly to keep long expeditions functional.