At least ten astronauts from ESA and NASA, plus some space nerd celebrities, shared their knowledge on how to live and thrive in a small space in a live event on Thursday. Among the spacefarers are Tim Peake, Alexander Gerst and Samantha Cristoforetti.

As 1.5 billion people worldwide face life in lockdown, confined at home as their countries battle the coronavirus, a group of astronauts and stars from music, cinema and television are uniting in a live event online to share their top tips for living indoors for several months.

Physics professor and TV personality Brian Cox hosts the English language section of the Space Connects Us event - watch again in the video player above.

The event on Thursday evening featured a few names and faces from TV and stage, such as Mayim Bialik, who plays Amy in The Big Bang Theory, Alison Pill from Star Trek: Picard, singer Olivia Newton-John and perhaps the loudest actor in the universe, Brian Blessed, who has trained with cosmonauts.

Astronauts are considered a natural pool of wisdom and advice when it comes to living in confined spaces for long periods of time, as many of those taking part in the event have already spent at least six months in orbit, flying around the Earth in a pressurised spacecraft with no garden to stroll in, nor dog to (space)walk.

ESA

The insights they have to offer were broadcast from the SpaceConnects.us website and live streamed on Euronews YouTube platforms. Organising the event was the same team behind Asteroid Day, the UN-backed official awareness event where the risks of asteroid strike on our planet are discussed every year.

The astronauts on stage presented their hints and tips on teamwork, mutual encouragement, and solidarity in the face of adversity. They include Britain's Tim Peake, Germany's Alexander Gerst, Italy's Samantha Cristoforetti, Romania's Dorin Prunariu and the Netherlands' Andre Kuipers.

These European Space Agency astronauts were joined by their boss, chief ESA astronaut Frank De Winne, and Tom Jones and Nicole Stott of NASA.

The programme ran in five language segments: Dutch, followed by German, Italian, French and English.