Science & Exploration

Applicants from all ESA Member States to become European astronauts

23/06/2008 8350 views 11 likes

ESA / Science & Exploration / Human and Robotic Exploration / European Astronaut Selection 2008

ESA began its search for new astronauts on 19 May, calling for applications from talented individuals who wish to join the European Astronaut Corps.

Almost 10 000 individuals registered to begin the application process. At the close of the application phase which lasted a month, 8413 aspiring astronauts provided a medical certificate and finalised the online application form. This qualifies them for the next step in the selection process.

Details
Most of the applications were received from France (22.1%) and Germany (21.4%) followed by Italy (11.0%), the United Kingdom (9.8%) and Spain (9.4%). 16% of the total of applications were submitted by women. Further details are in the table below.

ESA astronaut recruitment campaign 2008
Total number of applicants at the closure of the application period

Country	No. of applicants	% of total applicants	as 2nd citizenship*	Men**	Women**
Austria	210	2.5%	8	195	23
Belgium	253	3.0%	8	224	37
Denmark	35	0.4%	4	34	5
Finland	336	4.0%	5	283	58
France	1860	22.1%	58	1616	302
Germany	1798	21.4%	35	1523	310
Greece	159	1.9%	14	152	21
Ireland	128	1.5%	11	110	29
Italy	927	11.0%	39	815	151
Luxembourg	14	0.2%	0	14	0
Norway	74	0.9%	2	67	9
Other	72	0.9%	309	301	80
Portugal	210	2.5%	10	192	28
Spain	789	9.4%	21	707	103
Sweden	172	2.0%	9	156	25
Switzerland	351	4.2%	26	325	52
The Netherlands	203	2.4%	2	175	30
United Kingdom	822	9.8%	42	697	167
Total	8413	100.0%	603	7586	1430

* number of applicants having stated this country as their 2nd citizenship
** number of applicants being a citizen of this country either as unique or 2nd citizenship

The Astronaut Selection Team, based at the European Astronaut Centre (EAC) in Cologne, Germany, now has the challenging task to select the best applicants. Those who make it through this first selection can soon expect to receive a letter inviting them to participate in the next stage - the psychological testing.

Psychological testing

"We now have a large number of highly qualified applicants. I am confident that we will find the outstanding individuals we are looking for. This will be ensured by the next selection steps, starting with a first round of psychological testing," said Michel Tognini, Head of the European Astronaut Centre.

Those tests aim to identify the psychological and technical skills of the applicants, who will be tested in different fields including visual memory and psychomotor aptitude.

“I am very pleased that we have received so many applications stemming from all our 17 ESA Member States,” says Simonetta Di Pippo, ESA’s Director of Human Spaceflight. “This shows that the strong commitment for Human Spaceflight and Exploration, which ESA and its Member States demonstrated in holding the first astronaut selection after more than 15 years, is met by an equally strong interest from European citizens.”

To ISS and beyond

This campaign is ESA's first astronaut selection since 1992, providing the opportunity to be at the forefront of ESA’s human spaceflight programmes, including future missions to the ISS and beyond.