First Space Station missions for new ESA astronauts

okay good afternoon my name is jier and I welcome you here in Brussels for the second part of the event uh so dear ministers dear heads of delegations directors colleagues and Friends welcome but also welcome to everybody who is watching us live on Isa web TV for a special program here in Brussels today uh since we are here to make a historic announcement a big announcement once that will uh once that will have a direct impact on the lives of two of our astronaut colleagues and probably prob is to to have um a much bigger impact on many many lives in Europe here back on Earth back in January it was promised by uh our director General to make this announcement here on MAR of the space Council the announcement of the two first assignments of these are asals of the class 2022 the latest class of astrals that graduated just a few weeks ago therefore Joseph it's your commitment I leave you the floor so thank you J and uh yes good evening to the ones who are remotely connected this is quite an important moment because uh in a few minutes we will reveal who are the first out of the five astronauts that will be the next ones of the the new graduates to fly to the space station but uh before I do that let me just say a few introductory words of where we stand and what this means for today so as you know exactly one month ago on the day we have graduated the five new astronauts and uh I think there's a they will appear on the screen very soon um which are the ones from the 2022 class out of 17,500 application as you are very well aware so these five candidates who have been graduated are Sophia Deno from France Pablo Alvarez from Spain Rosemary kugan from the UK Rafael leua from Belgium and Marco CRA from Switzerland two of them I have assigned to be the next ones flying to the space station the plan as we have negotiated with NASA is that they can fly in early to 2026 and a second one in late 2026 most likely in fall but the dates have yet to be confirmed but this is the this is the working assumption in order to do that so this is quite important because uh we have with this five new astronauts adding to the six astronauts of the 2008 class 11 astronauts in the ISA astronaut core from eight different countries and this is the largest astronaut core we ever had but also the other good news is that all of the five new astronauts will be able to fly by 2030 because we have thanks to the teams of Daniel of Frank and our colleagues already negotiated flight opportunities until 2030 so out of the five all of them will fly and that's really the good news of course and we will come to the selection and the announcement in a minute out of the five two of them have to be the first ones and these two will be introduced shortly but also I think this is a very important signal because Europe and you member states have given a very strong impetus to exploration to the exploration program at the last ministerial 36% more funding compared to 2019 is very remarkable and is very bold I thank you for that and this makes it it possible for us to negotiate these astronaut slots which I just mentioned before because without that departer agreement with NASA would not work so therefore I think it's really important that we keep investing in Exploration that we keep building up a very strong exploration program and this is exactly what we do so now we see the five candidates astronauts behind us but we are now connected to Houston and before asking the two astronauts to walk in I would like to give the floor to Daniel to give us some updates on the side of the exploration directorate thank you Joseph good evening from my side uh I'm between you and a big announcement so uh I will be short I just want to underline that we write today another marvelous chapter in a great journey this joury started in 2021 when isar called a new astronaut election DG underlined what happened in at the ministerial Council they went through uh basic training where they got all the foundations you need in order to be an astronaut it ranged through a number of activities over uh survival training through learning Russian up to get engineering courses and astronomy the graduation ceremony took place our five candidate became astronaut they have now wings and they are ready to go uh to flight and now comes the next chapter for all five of them which is the pre-assignment training this pre-assignment training will allow them to uh go more in depth on certain aspects like for example training on extra vehicle activities for that they will go to Houston to complement what they have done and learned in Cologne at the European astronaut Center they will have addict additional elements on medical uh practices on data operations Etc but I think it's time to stop it's time to give the floor to the heroes if I may say that and back to DG thank you Daniel they're all heroes but we have to select two astronauts who are the first ones uh to be flying to the space station we are now connected to Houston which also shows that the astronauts are already starting to train and that's why they're not physically here with us on stage and I would like to ask the two candidates to please come into the picture ah here they are so you see Sophia Deno is astronaut from France and you see Rafael yua is astronaut from Belgium so let me say a couple of words to both of them so first of all congratulations uh very happy to see you with a big smile and we just met a month ago in Cologne Sophie is um an is astronaut from France she was born in 1982 she graduated from isai supero in tus in France and at the M Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston United States of America so she's an educated engineer but then joined the Air Force to become a helicopter experimental test pilot an experimental T pilot really is a tough job she has more than 3,000 locked hours on 22 different helicopter types we already have a a lot of very memorable moments are seen in your career Sophie but um tell us a little bit how you feel about this new challenge which you have in front of you well I first wanted to say thank you uh sir director General it's really an honor to be assigned it's an honor to be able to represent the European friends space agency and friends as well on the ass in a couple years um as you said um it's a new step I would even say it's a giant leap in uh The Incredible Journey that brought me here until now and as you already know it's h it's been a longtime dream that is becoming a bit more concrete today so I'm super happy thank you very glad to hear Sophie that you're so happy tell us a little bit what you're doing in Houston and how it is going there yeah well we we arrived just a few days ago and we're starting to get familiar with the facilities uh we're discovering new things we're meeting new peoples we have been very very warmly welcomed and uh the training is already ongoing so it's the continuation of our basic training Sophie warm congratulations also from my side uh as you are speaking about training tell us a bit how you already started to implement what you learned in the basic training into practice now in Houston yes thank you thank you Daniel uh yes it's a it's really a continuation and I would say one very common point between uh the European astronaut Center and in colog and here in Houston is that our instructors are all passionate about their job they are instructing um every skill and and all the theory and operational skills that we will need to become operational uh on the asss in a couple years so it's a whole process which is just uh going further away now and more deep into the details to the procedures nominal and emergency procedures on board the Isis so thank you once more Sophie and congratulations once more let me go to Raphael Raphael congrat congratulations to you as well a few words on Raphael so he is an e astronaut as I mentioned already of Belgian origin he was born in Belgium in 1988 Rafael graduated from the University of Lees the called Central par the University Paris or and completed a doctoral degree in neurosciences at the University of Le he also conducted a postdoctoral research stay at the National University in Singapore before becoming a senior post doctoral fellow with a call poly technique Federal de loan so as you see Rafael is a very long a very studious Journey Rafael how do you feel now well good afternoon DG good afternoon uh everyone good afternoon from Houston I guess I will have to get used to saying that I am feeling great as uh as Sophie said it is an honor to be assigned to a space mission so thanks again for your trust it is definitely an important moment in my career it is also an important moment in my life and I would have loved uh to be with you today to celebrate but we will have other opportunities and well I am feeling so proud to be representing Belgium Europe and Isa on this amazing journey to the ISS congratulations Rafael and um for everyone to just understand the sequence of flights so the sequence will be that Sophie will be the first astronaut to fly in the next assignment most likely in Spring 2026 and Rafael will be the second one most likely in Fall 2026 so rapael what are you most looking forward to well we are here to train to go to space so everything is essentially super exciting but if I had to mention one course for example we just started the trainings in the pool here in Houston to prepare for extra vehicular activities and this is super exciting because that's this image that we all have of astronauts going out there in their SPAC suits and we are now training for that so that's the first point the second point will be to to meet with the other crew members because as of now we don't know the other crew members and we will go through something very special all together so I'm very much looking forward to that and then as you mentioned uh we might spend a few days together on board the International Space Station so if this happens I think this would definitely be a highlight for the two of us so Rafael also very warm congratulations from my side you just spoke said hello from Houston so there is a little bit of a change going from col to Houston the surroundings are changing a little bit so tell us how your new environment looks like how you settle the first days and especially are you still in contact with a team at the European astronaut Center hi Daniel yes so the the transition has been super smooth and we are still of course in contact with the teams at EAC they have prepared our basic training super well and they have prepared this transition for months and the transition has been super smooth so it's been only 10 days that we are here and we are already fully on track busy busy with courses we had a course just before this we have another one just after this so a big shout out to all the teams at e also the counterparts at Nasa and the ISA office at Nasa as well uh which has prepared this four months and it's running super smoothly thank you Rafa thank you Sophie Joseph Daniel I'd like to call on stage our country Representatives uh from Belgium state Secretary Toma Darin and from France K president Philip batist here take the mics thank [Applause] you Philip I am so proud so of both of you and I think that all Europeans are very very proud to see both of you almost ready to fly well you're not there anymore but but almost ready to fly so it's a great honor and a great pleasure to be here I just want to say perhaps one word to say that of course we expect you to be very good when you will be in the ISS to run all the experiments for scientists because we have to recall of course this is basically your primary Mission up there but on top of that I would like to stress on two points that that I think are really key and we we really expect a lot from you first thing I mean Earth is fragile and you need to be the ambassador of Earth to all our fellow Citizen and and and you have really an important role for that and a second one which is a little bit in the same or of the same kind I mean at the time where science and technology is challenged by I mean well fake news or whatever you call you call them I mean you you you have a message to to to to pass around to give to our society on the importance of Science of Technology of trust in the future of all Europe and Mankind and I mean this is very important message and you are the good one to do that I mean in France I mean we have CLA and Toma and of course all the European astronauts they all give this message and this is I would say perhaps your first mission thank you very much toar would you like to address our astronauts no Sal Sophie Sal Rafael it's uh amazing to see you there in uston it's a Pity you're not with us in h Brussels we could have celebrated it the way we do in h Belgium but nevertheless training uh comes first um no it's amazing it's amazing it's extremely um I'm extremely proud to see you both there uh you are amazing faces of uh Europe of the values we stand for the Excellence we produce in science in research but also in action and practice and Philip actually you can be a very good politician because the messages I had for you two are exactly the same please be the voices and the faces of the fight against climate change I think you will have a unique perspective from above the Earth to look at our fragile ecosystems please share the words just as other astronauts have done it in the past and second indeed you both have excellent academic track records where you have put science at the core of your life science at the core of your practices so please be the voice of science for the younger generation because it's through science that we will solve the most pressing issues of our times so I have I have a question yes are you ready to lose all kind of personal life not to be able to enter into a bar or a restaurant without having thousand people around you know what we are ready for our mission this is what comes us for us right now our mission uh will effectively um the consequence of of this is that we'll be very well known in Europe but what counts is what how we use this this uh this Pro public profile of being very well known will we use it for the missions you just described be uh the ambassadors for planet Earth and be the ambassadors for science so I mean if if this uh can have an an impact for many people around many young people to go and do science for many people to get more conscious about the fragility of Earth and the Beautiful of our whole spaceship as Humanity then then it's going to be the biggest reward for for all of us astronauts and I hope I will of course still be able to enter a restaurant that we will still be able to enter restaurants or bars because yeah we are not planning on giving up on that either and Sophie uh Beyond uh your academic record and Beyond uh piloting helicopters I saw what was extremely impressive is that you are a registered yoga teacher um how do you plan to adapt your practice uh going to the ISS well that's a good question and I I really haven't thought about that until now uh I guess um microgravity is will be full of surprises and how to adapt Sports and and and yoga practice is going to be one one of the the surprises and I'll get back to you on that because right now I have no idea to be honest and Rafael the um Tom pesque brought a saxophone which is by the way a Belgian instrument um to the ISS sorry do you have um any idea on what the personal item may be for Belgium or from uh elsewhere maybe France that you will uh bring with you to the ISS yeah so it's true saxophone comes from do so hi to our friends from do south of Belgium um I have no idea in terms of instrument uh in instruments I am playing the piano but I'm not sure that we'll be allowed to bring uh to bring one on board the ISS but I will definitely think about uh about something personal to yeah to make that uh a personal experience and to be able to share it with the widest audience thank you thank you very much both of you and thank you everybody Joseph thank you thank you Joseph um give you the word for the last word yeah that brings us to the end of this uh selection and this small celebration we had so first of all thank you Philip thank you Tomar thank you and congratulations uh Sophia and Rafael uh I look forward to hearing back from you of what to do and how it goes over there I'm sure you're pretty busy and uh this is something I think very exciting ahead of you and thank you member states once more for making all this possible you are here you're probably not seeing it but there's the room full of delegate delegates representatives from industry stakeholders in space and they're all very proud of you we all very proud of you doing a mission so thank you from our side and goodbye to Houston thank you you see you soon see you soon thank you and that concludes our event uh we're checking out friends on

Channel: European Space Agency, ESA

Views: 16,396

Keywords: ESA, European Space Agency, Space Station mission, new ESA astronauts, ESA new missions, Sophie Adenot, Pablo Álvarez Fernández, Rosemary Coogan, Raphaël Liégeois, Marco Sieber

Id: Pra5KoCSs44

Length: 21min 25sec (1285 seconds)

Published: Thu May 23 2024