European Space Agency astronaut Matthias Maurer is learning Chinese in preparation for a potential trip to the future Chinese Space Station, and looking forward to eating Chinese food in space.
ESA regularly sends astronauts to the International Space Station, but the lack of launch capability means taking a ride with other space-faring nations, and in the future that could include China.
"Europe has no proper capsule to fly to space so we always need to have a rocket and to be invited by another nation. Currently we fly on a Soyuz rocket, so everyone who flies on a Soyuz rocket needs to learn Russian," Maurer said in an ESA WebTV interview at the Berlin Air and Space Show on April 27.
"In the future we might fly to the new Chinese Space Station, and of course, if you want to fly with the Chinese you need to learn Chinese."
Asked by interviewer Kelsea Brennan-Wessels if he likes Chinese food, Maurer replied: "It&apos;s brilliant, so I would love to have Chinese food in space".
In August 2017, Maurer and ESA colleague Sam Cristoforetti travelled to China for joint sea survival training off the coast of Shandong Province.
The exercises were part of growing cooperation between the China Manned Space Engineering Office (CMSE) and ESA in human spaceflight that could one day see Europeans fly with Chinese to the Chinese Space Station.
Maurer is also a part of Spaceship EAC, a programme in which students and scientists work together to tackle future space exploration challenges. The initiative, which he also introduces in the interview, includes preparing astronauts and technology for missions to the Moon.
He is close to finishing basic and pre-assignment training, and waiting for a mission to the International Space Station.
Construction of China&apos;s space station is expected to start around 2020 with the launch of the Tianhe core module and be completed by around 2022 with the addition of two further 20 metric tonne experiment modules, Wentian and Mengtian.