Overview
- Gerst, who appeared on NDR's Inas Nacht on Thursday, said he first saw lights and flashes over the Middle East from the ISS and only later realized those images were rocket strikes that meant people were dying.
- He told the show that environmental destruction is also visible from orbit, citing the burning and clearing of the Amazon as a moment that affected him emotionally.
- Gerst described operational realities of human spaceflight, saying crews must learn Russian because thousands of pages of procedures and manuals are in that language and noting his Soyuz training and his 2018 role as the first German commander of the ISS.
- He expressed a personal desire to take part in NASA's Artemis lunar program while making clear this was an aspiration rather than an announced assignment.
- When asked about pay he declined to give a figure; press accounts used ESA salary tables to estimate a typical gross range of about €8,000–€10,000 per month and noted the interview was a small, live pub-format episode with musical guests and a 14-person audience.