In the heart of Cologne, Germany, five distinguished Europeans – academics, athletes, and adventurers – and an Aussie, have been crossing boundaries beyond typical human experiences for the past year. These six exceptional men and women have plunged themselves into dizzying centrifuges; spent hour upon hour submerged; battled temporary oxygen deprivation; learned survival skills in chilly snow camping; sharpened minds in anatomy, physiology, astronomy, meteorology, robotics; and even tackled the challenge of Russian language.
This Monday marked a day of celebration. Their strenuous training came to fruition with the bestowing of a single momentous title: astronaut.
The European Space Agency, known as ESA, proudly announced these five fresh European faces and the Australian addition to their astronaut corps, now ready to foray into missions to the International Space Station, swelling the eligible astronaut number to eleven.
Despite ESA’s negotiations with NASA for potential spots on the much-anticipated Artemis moon missions, these positions are likely earmarked for the more senior astronauts— a reality openly acknowledged by ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher. The agency, meanwhile, is investing valuable resources in service modules for the Orion crew capsule, maintaining its dependency on NASA and other agencies for its astronaut launches.
This presents only the fourth instance since 1978 where ESA, representing 22 countries, introduces a new class of astronauts. Our space explorers have emerged exemplary from a staggering 22,500 applicants, with another twelve selected as reserve matches, albeit without the path to basic training.
Indeed, these new astronauts possess exceptional resumes, bedecked with advanced scientific and medical degrees, complemented by military training and piloting experience across planes, helicopters, gliders and balloons. Their extracurricular activities pack a punch too – the list brims with rowing, scuba diving, hiking, skydiving, cycling, sailing, even kayaking. In fact, Aschbacher couldn’t help commenting on their remarkable team spirit, devoid of personal rivalry, “one of you will fly first and one will fly last,” he noted, “the team spirit is very pronounced.”
Enter Sophie Adenot, a French air force helicopter test pilot, who described the astronaut class as, “a fantastic crew and a fantastic team.” She reminisced the most striking experience, a simulation of a spacewalk, noting, “when the instructor said, ‘Welcome to space,’ I had goosebumps… In a few years it is going to be me in space.”
Alongside Adenot, the ESA class includes extraordinary talents. Spanish aeronautical engineer Pablo Alvarez Fernandez, British astronomer Rosemary Coogan, Belgian neuroscientist Raphael Liegeois who also pilots hot-air balloons and gliders, and Swiss emergency physician Marco Alain Sieber, complete the European quintet. From across the oceans, Australian Katherine Bennell-Pegg has made her mark, training under a cooperative agreement between Australia and ESA, although she remains an employee of the Australian Space Agency.
A grueling year of testing included withstanding higher gravitational forces in a centrifuge, and training underwater to imitate space-station zero-gravity conditions. Survival skill training ranged from familiarization with hypoxia, potential ocean splashdowns, to acclimatizing for weather vagaries in winter. Alongside rigorous physical training, the class absorbed diverse scientific principles and specialized knowledge about the International Space Station’s modules and equipment. Intensive Russian language acquisition was integral to the experience, highlighting the continued ESA collaboration with Russia in the context of the space station.
Our new astronauts, thus, stand testament to the unwavering spirit of exploration, perseverance, and the audacious courage within us. Now it’s time to watch as these explorers embark on the vertical journey that takes them from earth to infinity, living a dream that most of us only dare to fantasize.
