Dr Alexander Gerst

"No matter how often we perform this manoeuvre, capturing a freely drifting spaceship with the International Space Station's robotic arm in full manual mode always gets an astronaut's pulse up." Credit: ESA/NASA

The Soyuz TMA-13M rocket is launched with Expedition 40 Soyuz Commander Maxim Suraev, of the Russian Federal Space Agency, Roscosmos, Flight Engineer Alexander Gerst, of the European Space Agency, ESA, and Flight Engineer Reid Wiseman of NASA, Thursday, May 29, 2014 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

"I bet every explorer who ever lived was convinced that their ship was the most beautiful of all. I still sometimes can't believe she's the ship that we sailed in, from Earth to space". Credit: ESA/A.Gerst, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO

"How do you weigh yourself in weightlessness? The answer is shaking. When we bounce ourselves at the end of a spring loaded rod, the time it takes for one bounce tells us our exact body mass". Credit: ESA/NASA-A.Gerst

The crew of the International Space Station celebrate Halloween.

"Have you ever wondered how a space station looks at midnight?" Credits: ESA/NASA

"Planet of Clouds" Credit: ESA/A.Gerst, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO

View of Banks Peninsula, New Zealand, from space

"Understanding how to grow algae in space might be the key to a successful closed life support system in future spacecraft. And it helps us to better understand Earth's eco system, too". Credit: ESA/NASA

"The mouse and the elephant say it's nothing, but something tells me after 80 days on board the International Space Station they might be missing home a bit".

"Tackling Parkinson’s disease from space. In weightlessness, the LRRK2 protein crystals causing the disease can be grown artificially, much bigger than on Earth. We need these to search for an inhibitor drug" Credit: ESA/NASA