Matthias Maurer, ESA’s newest astronaut, has been training with Tim Peake at the Johnson Space Centre in Houston, Texas. During practical and theory classes they’ve learned skills necessary to perform EVA, or Extra Vehicular Activities – much of which is already familiar to Tim, who worked outside the Station in January 2016. They also spent time in the Neutral Buoyancy Lab, a pool housing replica International Space Station modules which allows astronauts to experience near weightless conditions.