Two Spaniards have just been chosen as ESA astronauts. The tests they have passed have been very demanding.
A few months ago, the European Space Agency recruited 17 new astronauts, 5 starters and 11 substitutes. Among the headlines is the Spanish astronaut Pablo Alvarezand among the substitutes, the first Spanish astronaut, Sara Garcia. He tells in a podcast the ordeals that he had to go through to outpace the 22,500 candidates who applied.
The last Spanish ESA astronaut was the former Minister of Science and Innovation, Pedro Dukeelected 30 years ago, in 1992. We have had another astronaut born here, Miguel Lopez-Alegriaalthough he worked for NASA.
These 17 next-generation astronauts are chosen to travel to the moon with the European Space Agency (ESA) in 2030. And since they are young, they could be the first to travel to marsin a couple of decades. Almost certainly, most will visit the International Space Station.
Here we can see the two Spanish astronauts of the THAT. Curiously, both are from Leon:
The curriculum of Sara Garcia Alonso, 33 years old, is impressive. She graduated from Biotechnology at the University of León, where he won several awards for excellence. He also has a doctorate in nuclear biology of cancer and translational medicine from the University of Salamanca.
currently is postdoctoral researcher at the National Center for Oncological Research, where he works on new drugs against cancer in the laboratory of the prestigious scientist Mariano Barbacid. Sara Garcia She is also a volunteer for the Spanish Association Against Cancer. She is fluent in English and a bit of French and Portuguese.
According to his ESA file, he likes to practice scuba diving and skydiving, as well as Krav Maga, a self-defense technique used by the Israeli Army.
The hard tests to be an ESA astronaut
Sara explains in the popular podcast Stretching the gum, the complicated tests to which she was submitted to be chosen among more than 22,500 European candidates who showed up at astronaut tests.
ensures that he had to pass an 11-hour examas well as numerous interviews with psychologists, experts, and other astronauts. AND curious evidencelike hearing a voice say numbers at a different speed, and when it stopped, it had to repeat them in reverse order.
But in the end, what counts the most is “being nice”. astronauts have to pass weeks and months isolated with their companions in spaceand they must be sociable and have stamina, to get along.
The European Space Agency wants to compete with NASA for decades to come. A few days ago he launched his most important mission, a 27-meter ship that is already on its way to Jupiter and its Moons. this decade put a rover on the moonand in 2030 want to take astronauts. He Trip to Mars is also being planned.
Sara Garciathe first Spanish astronaut, has possibilities of traveling to the International Space Station, and to the Moon. For this he had to pass very tough testsuntil elected by the European Space Agency among 22,500 candidates.