Training for a long-duration spaceflight is the most challenging assignment that Bob Thirsk has ever undertaken. As he prepares to leave Earth for a six-month stay aboard the ISS, Bob Thirsk describes the physical, academic, linguistic and cultural awareness training required for a space Expedition astronaut.

Bob Thirsk shares details about co-habitation with his Expedition 20/21 colleagues aboard the Space Station, which has living space equivalent to that of a Boeing 747 aircraft. Listen to his thoughts about the day-to day living in an orbiting laboratory.

Optical illusions - Student Science on the International Space Station

Does visual perception change in the weightless environment? The graduate students of the International Space University believe it does, so they have created the IRIS (Image Reversal in Space) experiment for Canadian astronaut Bob Thirsk to take part in.