European Astros Rookie Advances

The latest batch of European Space Agency astronauts has completed basic training.

Group of five receive diplomas at special ceremony in Cologne, Germany

They must now prepare for specific missions to the space station or even the moon.

The UK is interested in Northern Irish astrophysicist Dr Rosemary Coogan, who follows in the footsteps of Tim Peake, Britain’s first European Space Agency astronaut.

The former Army Aviation major is a 2009 graduate.

Dr. Coogan described her graduation as the fulfillment of a long-held ambition.

“I’ve always been fascinated by space personally, and now finding out that as an astronaut you can go there, you can do this amazing science and bring it back – it all comes together like a dream,” she said.

Dr Coogan and her colleagues – Sophie Adenot (France), Pablo Ivarez Fernndez (Spain), Raphal Ligeois (Belgium) and Marco Sieber (Switzerland) – were selected from more than 22,500 applicants because they had the skills to go into space. “correct conditions”.

Over the past 12 months, they have received medical, robotics and survival training; experienced weightlessness on a special plane; and been tossed in a centrifuge to simulate the force of a rocket launch.

Australian astronaut candidate Kathryn Bennell-Pegg also received her diploma during Monday’s ceremony.

The Sydney-based engineer, who holds dual British citizenship, joins the ESA astronaut team in Cologne under a contract between Europe and Australia’s space agency.

Tradition dictates that new classes have nicknames given to them by the previous class.

As a result, the new group will be called “The Hoppers,” a reference to the “hopping” back and forth between classrooms during training.

“Some of our new colleagues were overheard mentioning that they were interested in hopping on the moon,” said Germany’s Alex Gerst, one of the 2009 astronauts who reportedly served as “mischief”.

Dr. Guest gave the graduates a patch in the shape of the popular “Space Jump” toy.

The fivesome’s space education doesn’t stop there. They will continue to hone basic skills such as understanding spacecraft systems, learning to “spacewalk” and learning more Russian (Russian and English are spoken on the International Space Station (ISS)).

“The space station remains a collaboration,” said Libby Jackson, head of exploration at the British Space Agency.

“It’s a bilingual environment and if there’s an emergency, you have to understand what’s going on.”

The significance of Monday’s graduation ceremony is that the group is now eligible to be selected for space missions.

It’s anyone’s guess when each of them will be aboard the rocket.

Tim Peake waited five years after graduating for his chance to come along. In 2015/2016, he spent half a year on the International Space Station.

Europe is entitled to a berth at the international laboratory approximately every year, and although the orbital platform is due to be decommissioned in the early 2030s, a number of commercial vehicles will replace it – some with strong European support.

But NASA is also committed to returning to the moon this decade under its Artemis program, and, with the European Space Agency a key partner in that effort, Monday’s graduate One of the five graduates could become the first European citizen in history to set foot on the lunar surface.

If not the lunar surface, they have a good chance of entering lunar orbit. European industry is providing vital hardware for the lunar space station and ensuring that European Space Agency astronauts can fly within it.

European Space Agency chief Josef Aschbacher said in an interview with the BBC that he could not discuss flight opportunities yet, but that he might make some kind of announcement in May.

John McFall, a Briton selected by ESA as a potential astronaut, attended the ceremony in Cologne as a spectator. The doctor, who has a prosthetic arm, is participating in a separate feasibility study to see if a space vehicle could meet his needs.

Dr. McFaul may also fly to the space station at some point if they think he can.