From the pre-takeoff breakfast to the delicate stowage after 23 hours of travel, Europe 1 tells you what awaits Thomas Pesquet, the first European to make the trip to the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX rocket, Friday at 11:49 am sharp .

He will be the first European to make the trip to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard SpaceX's Crew Dragon.

After a postponement of a few days due to weather conditions, Thomas Pesquet will take off from Cape Canaveral, Florida on Friday morning for his second space mission.

A trip planned down to the minute, from preparations for departure to docking at the ISS. 

>> Find the morning show of the day in replay and podcast here

A card game to be won by superstition

First of all, you should know that you do not climb in a rocket like in a car: there are rituals to follow to ward off fate and ensure that the flight goes well. After having breakfast of their choice, Thomas Pesquet and the three astronauts he will travel with will have to play a game, for example a card game, and win against the chief astronaut of NASA - the world of space is a superstitious industry. 

Then, direction the rocket, 3 hours before takeoff.

On the road, all four will write their names on the astronaut wall.

Once they are seated in their place - Thomas Pesquet will be seated on the right - several checks will have to be carried out to ensure that communication with the control center is working and that the capsule is well sealed.

This will then be the time to fill up with fuel - kerosene and liquid oxygen - in the tanks. 

>> INTERVIEW

- Thomas Pesquet expects a second stay in space "more difficult" mentally

Note that each team takes a soft toy in its rocket, which starts to float when the astronauts are in zero gravity, and therefore tells them that they are no longer subject to the earth's attraction. 

"Fifteen laps around the earth" before stowage

Departure is scheduled at 11:49 am French time - 5:49 am Florida time, for a 23-hour journey, aboard a sleek and futuristic design vessel, without any buttons, but with three flat screens.

The white suits of Thomas Pesquet and his colleagues will also be futuristic: it is Hollywood costume designers who designed the spacesuits.

During the flight, the French astronaut should get some sleep, according to the planned schedule.

Why is the journey so long?

"We make about fifteen turns around the earth, and, very slowly, we climb the orbit to get closer in altitude to the [international space station,

 note]

, until we are really in the environment from the station 23 hours later, "Frank de Winne, head of the European Astronaut Center, told Europe 1. 

It is only once arrived on the same line as the ISS that the spacecraft will be able to dock there.

Then will begin, really, the mission of Thomas Pesquet.