ESA Seeking Recruits—Those Interested, Step OUT— Into Space

It’s been a good run, as evidenced by The European Space Agency (ESA) astronauts working in the Columbus laboratory onboard the International Space Station (ISS) as well as the first of ESA’s new ATV cargo ships having delivered fresh supplies to the station. Now, however, the ESA’s human spaceflight activities have entered a new era and it’s time for ESA to seek out new talent to bolster its Astronaut Corps for future manned missions to the ISS, the Moon, and beyond. The ESA began with human spaceflight for the first time in 1978 with its first astronaut selection followed, in 1983, by the first Spacelab mission. Then, preparations for ESA’s Columbus laboratory project, meanwhile, involved a second selection of astronauts in 1992. The ESA now needs to increase the size of their European Astronaut Corps. Candidates from all 17 Member States; Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, are welcome to apply. This new selection process starts on Monday, May 19th, with a well-established screening procedure. The formal application will be online at www.esa.int/astronautselection. Next are two stages of psychological and professional aptitude evaluation, including behavioral and cognitive skills tests. A medical evaluation includes clinical examinations by aero- medical physicians, and clinical specialists, laboratory screening tests, and special procedures. If you make it that far, a formal interview process begins. As potential ESA staff members, the astronaut candidates will go before an ESA selection board for further professional assessment with the final appointments to be announced in 2009. The selected candidates will then join the European Astronaut Corps and begin basic training at the European Astronaut Centre (ESA-EAC) in Cologne, Germany.