Polish astronaut Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski has called for greater international cooperation in space exploration, saying no single nation can extend humanity's reach beyond Earth alone.
He made the remarks during an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN) on the sidelines of the 77th International Astronautical Congress (IAC), which opened Monday in the southern Turkish coastal city of Antalya.
The five-day event, held under the theme "The World Needs More Space," has gathered space leaders, researchers and industry representatives from across the globe.
Speaking from his own experience in orbit, Uznanski-Wisniewski offered a view of the planet that few people ever see first-hand.
"I think space was always about collaboration, and coming back to the motto 'space for everyone.' I think it's really when we are beyond the Karman line [the boundary of space], above our atmosphere, we represent humanity. We represent our countries, but we represent all of us, and this wide collaboration was always very, truly inspiring," he said.
The Polish astronaut also spoke highly of China's efforts to open its Tiangong space station to international partners, including a plan to host a Pakistani astronaut working alongside its Chinese crew.
"I am happy to hear that Tiangong is hosting also other nations, that maybe in the future this collaboration will be much wider. If there is an opportunity, I would be very happy to see this collaboration being established, and if I had a chance to fly another mission, I would definitely say yes. That would be an honor to work in space again," he said.
Uznanski-Wisniewski also voiced his hopes for next year's IAC, to be held in Poland.
"I'm very happy about this. The last [time] I saw Poland hosted IAC was 1962. So a really long time, over 60 years ago. As you said, Poland is a smaller market, maybe not as much established in space technologies, but our motto in Poland will be 'One Space, Shared Future.' So I hope we'll all meet in one place in Poland to discuss shared future through collaborations and new possibilities to work together on much, much bigger programs that go beyond one country, beyond one continent, but really work globally for the benefit of all societies and the benefit of all," he said.
Polish astronaut calls for greater int'l cooperation in space exploration
