270 Irish would-be astronauts apply to join European space programme
Aeronautical engineer Norah Patten: 'It is a case of when and not if there will be an Irish astronaut.'
It is now only a matter of time before an Irish man or woman boldly goes where none has gone before, with hundreds of would-be astronauts applying for the European Space Agency's (ESA) astronaut selection programme.
The ESA announced that 22,000 people across the EU had applied for the positions of astronaut and astronaut with a physical disability, 11 years after the last process.
During the ESA’s last call for astronauts in 2008, the number of applicants was just 8,413, a gauge of how science and the wonders of space have captured the imagination in the digital age.
Of the 22,000, more than 200 applied for the newly established astronaut with a physical disability vacancy, and around 24% of all astronaut applicants identify as female. In 2008, this figure was 15.5%, the ESA said.
In Ireland, 194 men and 76 women have applied, bringing the number of would-be astronauts to 270. Four have applied in Ireland for the astronaut with a disability role.
Irish aeronautical engineer and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and maths) advocate and author of the acclaimed children's book , Norah Patten, told the that it is now only a matter of time before an Irish person goes into space for the first time.
"Exciting times indeed — I don't think many of us were expecting such a huge number of applicants but it goes to show that space is high on the agenda for a lot of people," she said.
"From my perspective, it is a case of when and not if there will be an Irish astronaut, but only time will tell if this is the ESA selection for that.
"The fact that there will be up to 20 reserve astronauts as well as the four to six career astronauts in this selection, I think, is a very positive thing, and the extra capacity is great, particularly for smaller countries like Ireland.
Bruce Hannah, chief technical officer at Ireland's National Space Centre (NSC) based in East Cork, said an Irish astronaut would be a huge boost to the country.
"An astronaut from Ireland would be a tremendous boon to both the rapidly growing Irish space industry and to the huge community of space enthusiasts here on the ground," he said.
"From as far back as Michael Collins and Apollo 11, Ireland has long had ties to US space missions and, just recently, we've had an NSC intern move on to an engineering role at Nasa.
"You can see from the support for French astronaut Thomas Pesquet and his ISS expedition that the European public's enthusiasm for manned flight is huge.
"Any Irish astronaut would be an incredible space flight ambassador to bring industry focus on Ireland's space companies and inspire the next generation of STEM professionals," he said.
There will be six stages from now until the final selection in 2022, the ESA said.
"There is still huge competition for these coveted roles in space," said ESA director general Josef Aschbacher.
