Prof. Dr. Ulrich Walter
D-2 Astronaut
Institute of Astronautics
TU München, Garching

© 2004

Link to the New ESA Astronaut Selection Campaign 2008

People ask me that question over and over again. I find it quite interesting that it is not just young men who toy with the idea of embarking on an astronautic career. My experience is that almost as many women want to go into that direction. They are all at the beginning of their professional training and are afraid of maybe choosing a university course that later on might be an obstacle during the selection tests for astronauts. And anyway nobody really knows where and how these selection tests take place and where you have to apply. This article is supposed to answer these questions.

Astronauts worldwide

Astronauts are generally spacemen. But they do not have the same denomination in all the countries. Only in Western countries they are called astronauts. The former East Bloc countries call them cosmonauts, and the Chinese coined the word taikonauts. France even used to call their spacemen spationauts, but the term astronauts has become established there as well. In today's era of the Internet it seems that anyway only astronauts still exist.

If you want to become an astronaut, you have to be an official national of a country which is actively involved in space travel. A citizen of a European country cannot become a NASA astronaut unless he has the US nationality as well. So the very popular and informative NASA Selection Pages ^[1] might be pretty interesting, but not relevant if you want to know: How do I become an astronaut as a European citizen? Europe is quite a special case in the world regarding astronauts, so the answer to our initial question becomes a bit more complicated. But we will see that it is not that difficult once you have the background information.

Astronauts in Europe

First of all you should know what kinds of astronauts exist in Europe. ESA, the European Space Agency, has its own corps of astronauts, the European astronauts ^[2] . At the moment (Feb 2004) there are 15 active ESA astronauts – and they are all male! The following Germans are members of the corps: Thomas Reiter, Hans Schlegel, Gerhard Thiele and Reinhold Ewald. Ulf Merbold, probably the most famous German astronaut, has retired from the corps as an active member. Until 1998 every larger European country disposed of their own national astronauts. A decision of the European Council of Ministers abolished the national astronauts of all European countries, and they were integrated into the ESA corps of astronauts – at least those who wanted to.

Now, what does that mean for future selection tests? Until 1998 every European country carried out their independent tests to select their own national astronauts. The best of these astronauts could then also apply for ESA astronauts, but the ESA carried out their own tests. It seems that this two-stage process will also be carried out the next time. But it might also be possible that ESA carries out their own direct job advertisement and candidate selection. It has not yet been decided whether the procedure will make use of the individual countries or not.

When will the next candidate selection be?

That depends very much on two factors: The number and age of the present ESA astronauts and the future demand. With currently 15 active astronauts the ESA has too many astronauts. But many of these ESA astronauts (and all the German ones among them) are relatively old, they were selected already in the 1980s. Astronauts may not have an expiry date, but they have an optimum working age. The best age for flight operations is between 35 and 50 years. So ESA will not be able to avoid admitting and training new, young astronauts for the ISS.

And what about the demand? The first flights to the European ISS research module COF will be carried out by the experienced ESA astronauts. An international crew composed of four ESA astronauts (Pedro Duque, Leopold Eyharts, Paolo Nespoli and Thomas Reiter), four Japanese (Takao Doi, Koichi Wakata, Satoshi Furukawa and Aikihido Hoshide) from the NASDA and two NASA astronauts (Nicole Passonno Stott and Stephanie D. Wilson) have been prepared for ISS missions since April 2001. Since the Columbia disaster on 1^st February 2003 the training has slackened however.

The first European astronauts will start working in space with the start of operations of the COF (it is now supposed to be in 2006). But that does not necessarily mean a lot of flight opportunities on a regular basis. As long as the NASA head O’Keefe only admits three astronauts simultaneously on the ISS because of cost reductions (instead of the seven planned astronauts, and at the moment only two astronauts because of the failure of the shuttle fleet), ESA scientific astronauts will not have many flight opportunities, which will also lead to a relatively sparse scientific output.

The flight experience of today's astronauts and of the international ISS crew needs to be transferred to younger astronauts in the long run, and to be able to do that, the ESA needs a new generation of astronauts. As soon as in 2006 scientific research operations start on board the ISS, I expect there will be the next ESA job advertisement. It is implicitly stated in ESA's web statement ^[3] "How to become an Astronaut?" that before 2005/2006 no new candidate selection is planned.

What kind of university studies do you need for a career as an astronaut?

Well, first of all: To become an astronaut it is quite good, but not indispensable, to study aeronautics and astronautics. On the other hand it would definitely not make any sense to do German studies What we need, and also will need in the future, are young people committed to natural sciences, medicine, or technology. Because in the COF, just like in the previous German or European shuttle or MIR missions, scientific experiments will be carried out, and to do that, you do not only need to know what you are doing, but also understand it. It would be ideal to have a university degree in chemistry, biology, medicine, physics, or engineering. But also candidates from other adjoining fields have a good chance. My former colleague Renate Brümmer was a meteorologist when she was selected. So you should study what suits you best. But one thing is important: no matter what you study, you should be good at it, or even excellent. By the way, aircraft pilots are hardly wanted anymore as candidates. Only the commander, the pilot of the shuttles and the Sojus commanders need to fulfill that criterion. And that is firmly controlled by the Americans and Russians, and since the ESA gave up their plans for their own shuttle HERMES many years ago, there is no demand for European astronaut pilots anymore.

The preconditions for the selection

Now, what are the other preconditions to become an astronaut? If you want to know all the details right down to examples of test tasks, you should have a look at my book «In 90 Minuten um die Erde» ^[4] (Around the World in 90 Minutes). If you just want to get an overview, have a look at the corresponding ESA web page ^[5] or you can download the lecture notes «Selection of Astronauts» (in German), which is part of my lecture «Human Spaceflight».

This is a short summary of the basic conditions which are tested by means of a questionnaire every candidate receives: professional experience in the scientific field, excellent knowledge of English and one other foreign language if possible, good physical and mental condition, good health also of the ancestors, body height between 153 and 190 cm, not older than 37 years, European nationality (of an ESA member state). By the way it is an old fairytale that you are not allowed to wear glasses, or have fillings in your teeth. Eye defects of up to two dioptres are admitted, and virtually every astronaut has inlays. Being in a good physical conditions does not mean that you have to be a top sportsman if possible, although many believe that. On the contrary, too many muscles are unfavourable for astronauts. In weightlessness you anyway hardly need them anymore. And apart from that they use up oxygen unnecessarily, and an enlarged heart mostly leads to cardiac dysrhythmia when underloaded. The really important thing is to have a good circulation, which is tested in a centrifuge. You will have to endure accelerations of up to 8g in a lying position.

Excellent bodily capabilities anyway do not play an important role during the further selection tests. The really critical stumbling blocks are the hard psychological tests about mathematical-logical thinking, the ability to remember things, spatial sense of direction, psychomotor coordination, and dexterity, and very important is: the ability to cope with multiple pressures. If you pass these tests, there is an empirical probability of only 50 percent that you will fail the following final medical tests. But if you have passed the medical tests as well, that does not mean that you automatically become an astronaut. There is another obstacle you unfortunately cannot influence at all: national proportional representation. The delegates of the countries quarrel with the ESA representatives about how many astronauts of their own country are to be accepted. And this not very honorable undertaking does not correspond at all to the abilities of the individual, and I know quite some excellent candidates, more or less the born astronauts, who in the end were defeated by this last hurdle despite their abilities.

Astronautics without being an astronaut!

But why would you want to become an astronaut, when astronautics with the future ISS and with many unmanned planetary missions offers interesting professions also on the Earth? If you want to see everything «live», then you should study aeronautics and astronautics and become a space engineer. «Mechanical Engineering» is mostly the basis, and in later semesters you specialise in aeronautics and astronautics. This course of studies is offered for example at the Aachen University of Applied Sciences or the University of Applied Sciences in Bremen. Aircraft construction is also offered at the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences and at the Munich University of Applied Sciences. But usually astronautics is taught at the classical universities: the TU München, TU Berlin, TU Braunschweig and TU Dresden offer studies in aeronautics and astronautics. The University Stuttgart even has its own Faculty of Aerospace Engineering. For further information, please refer to this link or to the Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Berlin.

No matter if you are an astronaut or a space engineer, astronautics is definitely a vocation in the true sense of the word. For those who are fully committed with their heart and soul, astronautics offers the possibility to live one's visions and to contribute to the future of mankind.

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