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Europe’s next astronauts train in Cologne before heading into orbit

A new cohort of astronauts at the European Space Agency's training centre in Cologne can expect to see time in both the pool and the classroom as they get ready to head into orbit.

Europe's next astronauts train in Cologne before heading into orbit
This photo released by NASA shows German astronaut Matthias Maurer and US astronaut Raja Chari performing maintenance work on an away mission at the ISS in 2022. The two also received training at the European Space Centre. Photo: picture alliance/dpa/NASA | Heidi Lavelle

Trainees dive into the water to emulate the experience of working in zero gravity, as well as studying a variety of subjects from medicine to geology.

The aim of the curriculum is to prepare the group for service on the International Space Station (ISS) and later on a potential mission to the moon.

READ ALSO: German astronaut lands safely back on Earth

“The biggest challenge is to learn so many different things in a very short period of time,” British astronaut Rosemary Coogan, 31, told AFP in an interview.

Along with four other hopefuls, Coogan in April began the 13-month course and will have finished by May 2024.

By then, the group will know who among them will be the first to climb aboard the low-orbit station in 2026.

For French candidate Sophie Adenot, 40, the “variety of the training” is part of the pleasure.

“It is everything from theoretical science to operational training. I am astounded by everything we have done in the last month,” she told AFP.

Graduates from the course could be headed for the moon, in the scope of the Artemis mission, which hopes to return astronauts to the rock within a decade and to establish a permanent base on Earth’s natural satellite.

European Space Agency

An astronaut wearing a uniform with the official European Space Agency logo. Photo: picture alliance/dpa/dpa-Zentralbild | Monika Skolimowska

Woman on the moon

The current cohort of astronauts includes the highest number of women to date after a push by the ESA to make space travel less masculine.

The agency encouraged more women to apply for the opportunity to go to space. In all, almost a quarter of candidates in 2021 were women, up from 15 percent in the last round in 2008.

“More than just having women in the team, what is important is diverse backgrounds and professions,” said Adenot.

READ ALSO: One of these women could be Germany’s first female astronaut

“A doctor will have a different way of thinking than an engineer or a pilot… it’s important to have various ways of thinking in the team,” she said.

Adenot, herself a helicopter test pilot, is joined in the group by Swiss doctor Marco Sieber, Belgian neuroscientist Raphael Liegeois and Spanish aeronautical engineer Pablo Alvarez Fernandez.

In addition to the five candidates, the ESA has also appointed a “parastronaut” — an astronaut with a handicap — 41-year-old Briton John McFall, who will take part in the training.

McFall’s presence will allow the ESA to study the feasibility of sending an astronaut with greater physical limitations into space.

Pool time

The training course seeks to prepare the future astronauts for any situation they could be confronted with in space.

In the pool, 10 metres underwater, the team practice what to do if a colleague falls ill in space and how to communicate with them.

“Astronauts have to have a very sound judgement,” said Coogan.

“When you get to space, there are often very unpredictable things and it can be to do with your day-to-day activities or an emergency situation. And that’s where you need to stay calm.”

After 13 months of training, only the candidate chosen to go to the ISS will begin a separate two-year programme tailored to the mission.

Despite the limited space onboard the rocket, the team at the ESA work well together.

“We are like a team of highly trained athletes. The demands of space missions are so high that you can only match them by working together,” said Adenot.

“When one of us is selected for a mission, whether it is on the International Space Station or the moon, we will all be behind them.”

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BUSINESS

Elon Musk visits Tesla’s sabotage-hit German factory

Elon Musk travelled Wednesday to Tesla's factory near Berlin to lend his workers "support" after the plant was forced to halt production by a suspected arson attack on nearby power lines.

Elon Musk visits Tesla's sabotage-hit German factory

The Tesla CEO addressed thousands of employees on arrival at the site, accusing “eco-terrorists” of the sabotage as he defended his company’s green credentials.

With his son X AE A-XII in his arms, Musk said: “I am here to support you.”

The billionaire’s visit came a week after power lines supplying the electric carmaker’s only European plant were set on fire in an act of sabotage claimed by a far-left group called the Vulkangruppe (Volcano Group).

READ ALSO: Far-left group claims ‘sabotage’ on Tesla’s German factory

Musk had said then that the attack was “extremely dumb”, while the company said it would cost it several hundred million euros.

A week on, the lights have come back on at the site, but Andre Thierig, who heads the site, said on LinkedIn that it would “take a bit of time” before production is back to full speed.

Industry experts have warned that the reputational impact caused by the sabotage on the region could be more severe than the losses suffered by Tesla.

Tesla’s German plant started production in 2022 following an arduous two-year approval and construction process dogged by administrative and legal obstacles.

Tesla wants to expand the site by 170 hectares and boost production up to one million vehicles annually to feed Europe’s growing demand for electric cars and take on rivals who are shifting away from combustion engine vehicles.

But the plans have annoyed local residents, who voted against the project in a non-binding ballot last month.

After the vote, Tesla said it might have to rethink the plans. Environmental activists opposed to the expansion of the factory have recently also set up a camp in a wooded area near the plant.

READ ALSO: Why is Tesla’s expansion near Berlin so controversial?

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