Are there Portuguese astronauts?

0:00But this time, there was an actual habitat built, so it was not on an intercade, it was a dome that was put on the field in Montserratius next to the observatory. And a team, an international team, we were five analog astronauts, three Portuguese to other researchers from Inesh Tech to in Porto, and we've seen that all the way. And two other international analog astronauts from the Netherlands and from the Philippines. So we were there for two weeks in isolation, in that habit of two weeks or two weeks, yeah, 13 days. Okay. Portugal. Portugal. Portugal. Our vegetables are like rock stars. Literally, Portugal is a small Disneyland for grown-ups.

1:02You know, I think that Portugal is like my geographic soulmates. It's hard to explain what it is because it's a feeling. And when I went there, I absolutely fell in love with Portugal. I want you to feel the crunching of Portugal, the Simple Life podcast. Portugal, the Simple Life podcast. And we're here on his podcast, Portugal Simple Life. Portugal, the Simple Life podcast, your insider's perspective into Portugal. And our latest episode starts right now. Welcome back. Welcome to another episode of Portugal, the Simple Life, and I'm really excited to be joined here by Pedro. Pedro. Pedro. Botaart. Botaart. Thank you for being on the podcast. How are you today? It's my pleasure, very nice to meet you, and thank you for the invitation to talk about my stuff. Yeah. Wonderful.

2:03Tell us just to start, Pedro, tell us a bit about you. Okay. I'm in a nutshell. I'm a 47-year-old Portuguese born and raised. I work as a network controller in photo airports for, in photo airports for the past 13 years now. Okay. And more recently, I've been engaging in analog missions, simulations of Mars and moon expeditions. I live here in photo with my family, my two kids, and I'm very happy to have chosen this part of the country. Yeah, it's a great place to raise children. Portugal. It's amazing. It was one of the main reasons I moved here was to raise my family in a good and a safe place. Yeah. We're quite lucky here. Indeed. Yeah. Pedro, our guests are always listening, sorry, from all over the world, and they're always

3:07curious about our Portuguese guests and where they're from and their experience of growing up in Portugal. I know you've traveled a lot and you travel quite a lot. But what do you remember about growing up in Portugal as a young boy and some of those memories? Well, I'll say I had a pretty standard childhood. I was born in Lisbon, but none of my parents are. Santa Maria. Sorry? Santa Maria? No, no, Lisbon. Lisbon, the capital. No, but the hospital. Santa Maria? Ah, actually not. In a private clinic somewhere. Okay. Of a lot. Okay. But I understand your question. Most of the Lisbon people or a bit chock are born there, yeah. Yeah, yeah. For sure. Okay. So none of my parents are actually from Lisbon. My father is from the Saloia area near Máfara, a small village called Liever Méns.

4:14And my mother is from Caminha, up north in Minho. Oh, wow. So I remember growing up and coming from for vacation to the Algarve, typically for one whole month, camping in Quartera, and then in a later stage when I was a little bit older already, we swapped to the opposite part of the country and we started going to for vacations in Caminha, also a very peaceful and beautiful place. So always a camping? Sometimes it was mixed by van. Sometimes we were camping in the camping just next to the river and the beach. And after some time we started renting some apartments there, a bit more comfort. We were five out of two sisters, so we needed some comfort.

5:15Yeah. Well, growing up, the memories I have are from the vacation periods and visiting my grandparents, my father's parents in this small village near Máfara, the festers they usually have there for totustán, to that kind of thing. Yeah. Yeah. I'm near to Calder de Chénia, so not too far from Máfara, also part of the Saloya region, lots of tradition, the markets, the festers, it's different, right? It's quite unique. I still have all very palm memories of that. I haven't been that going there in the wild, my grandparents are no longer here. So we lost the connection there, but that's the memories I have. And there's quite a big difference, the south and the north. I think a lot of people, we have such a small country, but it's very diverse, and a lot of

6:22people don't realize how much difference there is even in a hundred kilometers or even in 50 kilometers, it's quite a big difference north to south. Diverse is the correct word to describe it. It's impressive me, like I told you I'm traveling soon to Brazil, I built there every now and then. It's a big country, and for these small distances you don't get to see this much difference and diversity as we do here. But still in the diversity, there are some common ground, the pace is the same, the appreciation for food, wine is the same. There are some common grounds throughout the country. Yeah, and everybody in their region will argue that their region is the best region for food, or the best region for wine, or the best region for desserts.

7:22And I still don't know, I still don't know the answer to that question. I just appreciate it all. I like the food up north, I like the food here, I think it's good to have this diversity. For sure. For sure. You've traveled quite a bit Pedro, I mean this always helps us when we are thinking about our country where we live to travel. What have you learned over the years, because obviously with your work and with your family traveling a lot, what have you learned to appreciate about Portugal? What do you think makes Portugal unique when you compare it to other places that you've traveled? Well, Portugal is where I get grounded, where I shelter from everything else, where I come home, and really zone out.

8:26The pace, the pace here is everything, not having to worry about rhythm and everything going on. Safety, I also, I'm very appreciative of safety here. And the things, the good coffee and chat on a cafe, people seem to find time for that here, and not so much true when we're elsewhere in the world. Yeah, it's always something that I've always appreciated is how generous people are with their time here. Nobody ever seems in too much of a rush to, there's always time for a chat, there's always time for a conversation, there's always time to share a story or to talk to the kids, and that's something I think is truly unique about our country, for sure.

9:27For sure, yeah, that's something I'm very proud of. And I think it shows, it's seen our blood, it's in the way we are raised, it's seen the way our grandparents pass it to our parents and to us. It's a long lasting tradition, I think whether helps it, I have this theory that good weather makes happy people and more relaxed people, so maybe there's something to it there. Maybe something in the wine? Well, yeah, it helps, although I've got to, there are also other wine producing countries, good wine, that don't share the same vibe, so it might help, but it's not all there.

10:27Yeah, maybe there's a special ingredient in the Portuguese wine that stays in our blood and makes us like this. The genes probably have something to do with it as well, even the mixing of cultures, so we've experienced as a country with the discoveries and the colonies and everything, maybe our genes are mixed up with such a diversity from all over the world that it makes us like we are. Yeah, it could be, Pedro, are you still a traffic controller now or is that, yes, that's like one of the most stressful jobs in the world, I read long time ago that this is the most stressful job in the world, you seem like such a relaxed guy, how did that start for you?

11:30Well, it can be stressful, although we are trained to deal with that stress and to sort of normalize it, and we are also selected based on our characteristics that from the get-go-day test is to see if we are resilient and stress tolerance, so it starts from early on in the selection process, but then you train and you get used to it and I've been doing this for over 20 years now. So I think I've gathered some good experience and that makes me comfortable in dealing with the situations every day, you asked how did it started? Yes, I could almost say it started in a cafe chat, sitting here on a cafe, a lot of things, in a cafe with a friend of mine, at the time I was working as an engineer for the Portuguese

12:37airline at the top, I had been working there for approximately a year, so I had been almost recently hired, and I was in a cafe with this friend of mine who was employed at a time, and he was the one telling me about a call for air traffic controllers, so they had a call, and he told me about it, he was applying, and he told me about how it was like, in terms of benefits, lifestyle, and he got me interested as well, I applied as well even though I was working, and in the end I got selected, and he unfortunately wasn't. So you got the job, but he missed out? Exactly, so that's how it started, and then you moved from there into aeronautics, right?

13:40Well, the analogue missions world is kind of recent, my background is in aerospace engineering, so the bug has always been there, I remember being a child in elementary school, and like many children dreaming of one day being an astronaut, I don't think that's very uncommon for children, but being from Portugal, not a small country, that very little tradition in space exploration, soon I forgot about it, but I didn't end up majoring in aerospace engineering, so the bug was always there, and until 2021 when I came across a call for astronauts from ISA, the European Space Agency, and by going through the requirements, I realized I checked all the boxes, so I was in condition, I could apply, so I did, unfortunately

14:48so did 22,000 other applicants from all over Europe, in the end, non-surprisingly, I wasn't selected, but it got me thinking, wow, I won't be an astronaut, but is there anything else I can do to promote space exploration, to be engaged, to contribute, and that's when I discovered analogue missions, that was 2022, so I started looking online, and I came across the Austrian Space Forum, this organization in Austria, yeah, this is this high fidelity analogue missions every two, three years, so I volunteered there, and it started there, from there I got connected, I started doing trainings, I learned about other opportunities, I applied, it's been a roller

15:49coaster since 2023, but that's actually when it started my commitment to space exploration, amazing, so just for those who don't know, and I'm not 100% sure, what does an analogue mission look like? Okay, tell us about that. Fair question, an analogue mission is nothing but a simulation of a mission to the moon or to Mars, or even to the International Space Station, done here on Earth, usually on sites that resemble the place we are minicking, so we try to be geologically or environmentally similar to the place we are trying to simulate the moon or Mars, and basically we test for everything that might be useful for a real mission to those places, okay?

16:53People test for equipment, people test for people take the opportunity to study the reaction of the human body isolation, to a closed environment for a long period, called study the psychological part of the people really kind of environment, it all contributes to real missions, then here on Earth, on a safer environment, and with not nearly as much cost as testing it in the real place in space or in the moon or Mars. Yeah, because I came across a guy on a previous, you know, in our previous, one of our previous episode, Ricardo Mavau, who was speaking about this area becoming quite active in Portugal, and then since then you see a lot more and being

17:58connected with you and Anapides on LinkedIn, and you see people in this field, what's happening in this field in Portugal, because it sounds like it's becoming more and more, a Portugal is becoming more and more of a player in this area, tell us a bit about what's happening there. It's true, it's not a feeling, it's actual, it's actually happening, you start hearing a lot more space involvement in Portugal. We do have a space agency since 2019, who's been promoting the space activities in Portugal. We do have a recent space port established in Centenary Island in the Azores, certified to suburbital launches, and actually, Centenary is also certified to be receiving the space rider, Esas, reentry vehicle, we'll be able to land there as well. So we are

19:00starting to be involved, we as a country. You mentioned Anapides, I have the pleasure of working with our recently on a mission here in Portugal, in the mainland for the first time we have a mission here, but there are other people in relevant positions, I know some people working as flight directors for the European Space Agency, for the International Space Station, I know of people in really relevant positions in the European Union Agency for space exploration. It's starting to move, we don't have, we still don't have a real astronaut, but I'm very confident we'll get there as relatively soon. Looking for a home in Portugal, this break in Portugal, the Simple Life podcast is brought to you by Dylan and his team of certified realtors at Portugal Realty.

20:02Portugal Realty offers the exclusive Simple Life Homebuyer program. Visit PortugalRealty.com today and book your free call to find out more. Welcome to the Simple Life. Yeah, I was curious about if we've had any astronauts that have actually been out to space yet. Well, there has been on a private flight, not to career astronauts. Okay, okay, there you go. It always reminds me of Harry Veloz's song. What, with him and Tim and they speak about, I wanted to be an astronaut, but my mom said no, I'm translating here, but it makes me think about that song. Tell us about the analogue mission that you did in mainland. Where was it and what was that about? Are you allowed to tell us about those things? Yeah, yeah, not a problem. It's actually good that people hear about it and be aware of it. Part of it is also promoting this kind of thing and making people, especially young

21:07children, young people excited about going into sciences and investing their lives in this area. So this was a mission held in Montserrat in the observatory of La Volquiva. And it was the first mission in Portugal, mainland. There had been a previous mission in the cave in the assures where Anapides took part. But this time there was an actual habitat built, so it was not on an in a cave. It was a dome that was put on the field in Montserrat next to the observatory. And a team, an international team, we were five analog astronauts, three Portuguese, two other researchers from Ineshtek, in Porto and Lipsidad Alve. And two other international analog astronauts from the Netherlands and from the Philippines. So we were there for two weeks

22:08in isolation, in that habitat, two weeks or two weeks, yeah, 13 days. Yes, okay. And we were supported by a mission control, a team of two. Anapides was there and also a professor from Lipsidad Alve, Slavka and Redkovich, they were partying the mission control center in contact with us, over radio, over a message to coordinate all the activities. But we were living in isolation there with all the food we had there, with the water we had there, with the equipment. And during those two weeks, we performed all the experiments we were scheduled to perform. The only time we would walk out of the habitat was during what we call EVAs, extra vehicular activities. So coming out of the habitat, but having to wear a spacesuit, a mock-up of a spacesuit with a helmet and a backpack with the power for ventilation, et cetera.

23:11So we were there for two weeks. This was also part of a unique initiative taking part worldwide for the first time. This was not an isolated mission. This mission was taking part simultaneously with the I believe 13 or 14 other habitats everywhere in the world. That was a coordinated effort. So all these habitats were having a mission at the same time and all being coordinated centrally from a mission control center in Vienna. It was a really good opportunity, a showcase that the Portugal can do it. And I believe this will be the first of several. Amazing. So how big was this dome? It must be quite huge. It was a hundred square meters, something like that.

24:15Okay. It's not that big. We had it divided into small spaces, a sleeping area with some curtains, and then basically an open space where we set up our workstations. And then we had a eating area, sports area, engineering bay, geological bay, and we spent the day there performing our daily activities. And was there a specific reason to choose Montserrige for choosing that particular location? I believe the director of the observatory at Labaltiva is very enthusiastic about these space activities and he was the main promoter of having it there. Okay. But also it's interesting during or prior to the mission start we had the photographer taking photos of a sunset in the area

25:17where the dome was set up. And it actually reminds us of the the reddish landscape of Mars. So there are some resemblances with the landscape you would actually see on Mars other than the of course the the lake and the trees and vegetation. But if you if you look beyond that there are some resemblances. Amazing. So I mean they're going to be more more missions like this. What do you think it is that that's putting Portugal more at the forefront of this the space that's it's a pun. But moving Portugal forward in this area do you think that's happening here that's that's that's putting us at the front of this this game. Like in almost everything I believe it's the people having people really enthusiastic about it and willing to devote themselves like an appetis like the director of the observatory pushing

26:22really pushing for the activities to come here and then having people that are able to perform and we do have very competent people coming out of universities and everything. I I felt my own skin how appreciative our qualities are I was an irrational student in the Netherlands together with some four or five other colleagues and I really felt we were appreciated there because of our workability our adaptability our ability to perform and to to really put the work and show and I don't think and I think sometimes Portuguese people aren't aware of their full potential yeah because it takes people from outside to to recognize that yeah I think it's interesting

27:23because when I first I've been in Portugal now 16 years and okay now Portugal I mean I'm in real estate so I have I have clients from all over the world from the US from the UK from Netherlands Belgium Sweden and I now you know 10 years for the last 10 years Portugal has been very very much in the spotlight and a lot of people want to know about Portugal but before that people didn't know a lot about our country and you know even to the point where I remember going to the faders you know the the property fairs in in different countries and people would think that Portugal was part of Spain and I'm like it's no there's so many differences you can't even and I remember people saying things like oh do Portuguese people take CS's and you know or Portuguese lazy and I'm like no like hard workers dedicated you'd say being able to to to adapt you know there's an hush guard these kind of things this is something very much part of thing

28:26and I think what has been so fascinating is especially doing this podcast and speaking to so many people Portugal is is for a small country there are people doing amazing things in so many different areas and fields and science and longevity and tech it's it's incredible what we are the amount of talent the amount of interesting people doing interesting things that we can produce in this country true I believe I have this theory that we we suffer a bit from the impostor syndrome yeah we don't believe we are afraid to advertise for our abilities for our capacity we tend to fear to come across as fake says not so good as we actually say we are there's a bit of humility there yeah I also don't want to be too arrogant and and things like that as well it's also very much part of the Portuguese humility because a Portuguese are very humble

29:28probably Cristiano Ronaldo helped us see that we sometimes have to be a little bit more arrogant yeah we've got things to be proud of exactly amazing um with I mean we talked we spoke about how stressful this job is as an air traffic controller and and and you're a busy guy with all these things that are happening enough and you mentioned earlier in the conversation that Portugal is what helps you stay grounded that relaxes you what is it what what is it about this place where that gives you that risk that grounds you that that that that that that that recharges your batteries what is it about Portugal that that does it for you well I've mentioned it yeah weather is a big chunk of it food is a big chunk of it uh having the fortunate of going almost anywhere and just picking a restaurant and having good food

30:33having family here um to come back to and uh it's it's it's it's uh I don't I cannot imagine me without this actually I I did have the opportunity of uh starting the career to stay abroad and I decided no I had enough of being abroad I wanted to do my career here and that uh I'm really happy with that decision don't regret it on single second I'm originally from from South Africa and in a big city Johannesburg where we spent our whole lives just rushing and running and and and always moving and and you feel like you you feel like you're not accomplishing something unless you're making a lot of dust and what I always say to people is this place forced me to slow down and in but in the best way possible you know it's it's a place where you don't eat lunch at your disc you know you go and you you have lunch uh you don't get a takeaway coffee you know you

31:37stand at the at the bell cow at the balcony and you and you have your coffee and you have a conversation and this we we spoke about it early there's that relationship of time and you know even the time taking the time to appreciate those simple things and those simple things are not the simple things they they've profound things because it's it's food and it's being around a table together and it's having conversations and it's it's it's so unique and it's so important it's so missing in the world today where everything's instant gratification and here we come and we take the time to to stop and to appreciate those things and I think that's a beautiful thing that we have um here in in Portugal still 100 percent and uh you were asking me why why is Portugal starting to to being the mouth of the world being spoken I think it it it shows uh people come here and they feel what you just said and then they comment to their peers and that brings more people

32:38and they all experience and feel it and there's no way of not enjoying that and wanting that for themselves yeah I mean you you you see it you know when you think about Portugal in a in a tourism brochure and it's the beaches and it's the monuments and it's the the wine and things but then you come to this country and and there's something that you feel when you're here and I and I feel it myself when I travel and I come back and I feel it and I see it with my clients when they've been you know they're living in the USA or they're living in in somewhere else in Europe and they come to Portugal to their home and they just like yeah everything just seems to just calm me down and that's special you know and and it's something that people need these days I think that the really good things about Portugal you cannot put in a brochure in a commercial you have to feel it yeah you feel it by coming here and experiencing yourself I don't think

33:40there's a way of putting it in a commercial or a brochure or anything 100 percent I agree with you we you spoke earlier Pedro about we were talking about why Portugal is becoming coming to the forefront of of aeronautics and and and and this this this field and you mentioned the people and we have spoken about the people but for somebody listening who like we say you need to come and feel it but for somebody listening from wherever they are sitting in the world because what makes this place what makes Portugal Portugal is the people what do you want to say what what would you like people to know about the Portuguese people well a couple words come to mind we are not very exuberant people I look to our neighbors

34:42the Spanish there are a lot more exuberant we're kind of shy much louder yeah yeah reserve people humility comes to mind but also very friendly very kind we it doesn't take as much to open our doors and offer a seat on the table and that that's something everyone relates to the the kindness of the Portuguese people and and besides besides the people Pedro what makes you proud of your country resilience pushing through adversity even being a small country but being able to proudly stand I think in terms of space exploration we don't have much going for us in terms of technology but

35:50here we are and and starting to be relevant I think the resilience and determination together with this humility it's such a it makes a very proud combination yeah I couldn't agree more Pedro what's one thing that you would like people to remember and to take away from our conversation well I think that the biggest take away is even though pushes a small country in the corner of Europe we don't have to be limited by that we can see great great things very complex things like space exploration and still enjoy a very peaceful and

36:50humble kind of life I would argue with the great quality so you don't have to be in the center of the world to to matter yeah yeah I like that and one other take where I would say from Pedro's from from from Pedro's mouth we will have a Portuguese astronaut soon well it won't be me I'm getting all for that but with all the activity we're seeing I mentioned that to other Portuguese analog astronauts who we do my share this latest mission I know at least one of them is already in the process of going to another analog and he's young enough to aspire to one day apply to it is called for astronauts and he's just one in the the universe of Portuguese people yeah who are I'm sure capable of one day inspiring the younger

37:52generation and putting us on the map of astronauts on space I love that how can people follow you Pedro online see what you're doing follow some of the work that's happening until until not long ago I didn't actually have a link then account but then I realized that was the place to be if I wanted to know about these space related activities and a lot of missions so this is actually where I have my most updated account nowadays I'm not that active there but I try to to keep it updated at least that's where people can learn a little bit about what I've been doing and what are my next steps awesome we'll put a link in the show notes that people can follow and Pedro finally a question that we ask all of our guests Portugal the simple life why

38:54the pace the the comfort and the quality of life short and sweet Pedro thank you so much for being on the on the podcast it's been a real pleasure speaking to you it was absolutely my pleasure thank you so much for being by and I'm gonna call it I'm gonna let you call it sorry I'm gonna let you call it yeah that's that's a wrap so thank you once again to our guest and thank you to all of you for listening please subscribe share with your friends give us a thumbs up and please leave a comment or a review we always love to hear from you and one more thing between my job as a realtor at Portugal Realty and hosting this podcast life is pretty busy but lately I've been receiving so many messages from people that want to know more about buying property here on Portugal Silver Coast that I've got to do something about it so starting now for subscribers only I'm offering up a 30 minute session per day

39:55that's five 30 minute sessions for a one-on-one meeting to talk about buying property here on Portugal's beautiful Silver Coast this is for subscribers only so please subscribe to book your session and get in touch with us through the links below via WhatsApp or email to book your session today I'll be happy to speak to you it's for subscribers only and it's completely free we'll be back next week with a brand new episode and as we say in Portugal says it's being vendor welcome to the Simplife