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Over 300 Finns Applied to ESA’s Astronaut Training Program

25 June 2008 5 Comments

As we wrote in April, ESA is looking for new European candidates to their astronaut training program. ESA asked all member countries to send applications for the upcoming training program. From Finland they will receive over 300 applications. This is the first time Finns have a change to become an astronaut and fly to the space.

ESA received 8.400 applications in total, and out of those thousands of applications only few will be picked up and given astronaut training. Most of the applications ESA received from Germany and France. I am really looking for to see someone from my home country entering the space. I did not apply :)

My dream might come true. ESA has announced that after their initial selection few Finns are still in the game. The process continues with a series of psychological tests, and those who pass the tests will continue with medical tests. Finally only four people out of 8.400 applicants will become ESA astronauts.

This is the first ESA candidate search since 1992. Those four new astronauts will fly to the International Space Station (ISS), but might also go to Moon one day.

Heh.. now my four years old son wants to become an astronaut..

This article was written by Marko Pyhajarvi and its original location is in HomeboyAstronomy.Com astronomy blog. For more great astronomy articles, please visit HomeboyAstronomy.Com

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5 Comments »

  • rv dealers said:

    when they will going to open space tourism for common people? how many yeras it will take?

    # 7 July 2008 at 10:52 am
  • marko (author) said:

    Only few. I think Virgin will be the first one bringing people to space. They probably start operating in 3-4 years.

    # 20 July 2008 at 4:52 pm
  • Lydia said:

    I would love to take a little trip into space, a short one!

    In Oregon U.S.A. we are enjoying summer with clear night skies. In August we will attend the annual “Star Party” at a state park nearby our home. I will try to gather some information for you about it.

    Regards,
    Lydia

    # 21 July 2008 at 9:17 am
  • marko (author) said:

    Absolutely, Lydia. It would be awesome to travel to space..

    I live in Helsinki, Finland. Night skies are not dark here at the moment, but in August our stargazing season begins.

    Thanks, it would be nice to know more about your Star Party. Would be nice to see some pictures and hear your story from the party. If you wish, you can write an article about it in this blog. Or if you wish not to write, it could be interesting for me to write about your annual party.

    # 21 July 2008 at 9:01 pm
  • Rachel said:

    Where did you find out that a few Finns are ’still in the game’ after the initial selection? I’m really interested in finding out how many people from my country made it through (Britain), but can’t find any information beyond the number who originally applied.
    Cheers

    # 11 August 2008 at 12:02 pm

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