A couple of brief updates on ESA’s search for its next generation of astronauts….
European Space Agency searching for Astronerds rather than Astronauts
Times of London
When European space chiefs begin sifting thousands of applications in a search for four new astronauts, they will not be interested in the kind of daredevil who pioneered space exploration. Instead they will be looking for scientists and engineers who display “team competence, empathy and emotional stability”. The European Space Agency wants astronerds rather than astronauts.
“We are not interested in the Right Stuff; we want the right staff,” a spokesman said.
Woman hopes to be Britain’s first astronaut
The Telegraph
There are currently eight ESA astronauts, all of whom are men from France, Italy, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Sweden, but many are now retiring and need to be replaced. Dr. Tracey Dickens, 29, an astrophysicist at Leicester University, is one of the British women who is applying to replace them.
She said: “Since I was 12 years old, I have wanted to be the next British born astronaut. I could never understand why there have never been any more British females and I have always felt that if all those men can do it, then why can’t I?”
British-born astronaut Piers Sellers is urging UK policymakers to get the nation involved in human spaceflight. Sellers, a veteran of two shuttle missions, said the rewards are well worth the expense.
“The UK needs a new generation of scientists and engineers if it is to be viable in the future world economy. I and many of my scientist and engineer colleagues were inspired to get into science and engineering in the first place because of space. And it is obvious that the appeal of space exploration to the public in general and to the young in particular is as strong as ever,” he writes in The Guardian.
With Europe’s Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) set to carry supplies to the International Space Station this weekend, Ian Sample questions whether the Great Britain is being left behind during this next phase of space exploration. Britain made no significant contribution to the ATV, which eventually could be upgraded to fly humans in space. Sampled is worried that Britain will be an insignificant player as the world’s space programs begin sending humans to the Moon and beyond.
SPACE ADVENTURES PRESS RELEASE
March 4, 2008
UK students will have a chance to get involved in two out-of-this-world space science experiments when British-born space entrepreneur Richard Garriott arrives at the International Space Station (ISS) this Autumn.
Developed in partnership with the British National Space Centre (BNSC), which co-ordinates civil space activities in the UK, and US company Space Adventures, which provides spaceflight opportunities for private citizens, the educational outreach programme will include challenges for both primary and secondary school students across the UK:
Primary schools students will be invited to design an experiment to be carried out by Mr. Garriott on the International Space Station and reviewed by retired astronaut Dr. Owen Garriott and by leading UK scientists including Dr Samantha Wynne, Cambridge University, and Professor Peter McCowan, Queen Mary, University of London.
Students aged 11-19 will be invited to imagine how space enterprise could develop in the future for space tourism companies including Space Adventures, using facilities such as the International Space Station.
Continue reading ‘UK Students to Participate in Richard Garriott’s ISS Flight’
With private companies such as Virgin Galactic getting into the space game and the United States aiming for the moon, the UK government is launching a formal review to decide whether to create a British astronaut corps.
British officials launched the review because of concerns the country could lose out in the next phase of space exploration.
Officials also unveiled plans for a new European Space Agency facility in Harwell, Oxfordshire, which will focus on climate change, robotic space exploration and applications.
In an editorial, the Financial Times says that Britain should focus on these areas instead of an expensive if flashy astronaut program. Astronomer Royal Martin Rees weighs in with similar sentiments in The Times of London.
