“The day I went into space” – Jeune Afrique

“We took off early in the morning. I felt calm, I felt that all of Egypt was with me. Equipped with a protective, flame retardant flight suit, I saw the color of the sky change from light blue to dark, then to purple and finally to black : This is the only evidence that allows us to know that we have reached space.

We stayed 3 minutes and 30 seconds afloat in the capsule, at an altitude of 107 kilometers. In total, the ride takes between 11 and 12 minutes. MECO passed [ndlr : Main Engine Cut-Off, moment où la fusée se sépare de ses propulseurs]We can leave our seats and feel weightless. I spent most of that time looking out the window at the surface of the earth. In this to rise, We can see the features of North America. The alert tells us to get back in our seats, before the capsule descends at high speed – at which point we get the impression that it is five times its own weight.

It took several weeks to get over it: the brain doesn’t immediately realize what happened. Among astronauts, this is called the “eye-of-eye effect,” which is a change in perspective on the world due to a view of Earth From outer space.