Author Topic: ESA may face British astronaut quandary  (Read 4706 times)

Offline Rusty_Barton

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ESA may face British astronaut quandary
« on: 05/01/2008 02:11 pm »
ESA may face British astronaut quandary
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24391621/

Offline CentEur

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RE: ESA may face British astronaut quandary
« Reply #1 on: 05/07/2008 02:03 pm »
So, ESA started the game of luring UK into manned spaceflight programme and some Brits are already inventing the plan to outsmart the evil Europeans. I can't wait to see the result.  :cool:

Offline mr.columbus

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RE: ESA may face British astronaut quandary
« Reply #2 on: 05/07/2008 02:34 pm »

It will all boil down to British participation in ESA's human spaceflight program, it has to. The annual contribution doesn't have to be much in any event - despite the article saying "it needs to be a big contribution".

Offline Jonesy STS

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Re: ESA may face British astronaut quandary
« Reply #3 on: 05/08/2008 01:07 pm »
ESA may have a bigger problem if posh boys like this apply, ones that are so uninformed that they think the Shuttle program ends "next year".

Tim nice but dim's video, and notably with the BBC guy that said there was only one Shuttle left after Columbia  and it was stranded at the ISS, on the day of the Columbia disaster. Makes you real proud doesn't it :(
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7389553.stm

Offline catfry

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Re: ESA may face British astronaut quandary
« Reply #4 on: 05/08/2008 04:07 pm »
So-Yeon Yi had a pretty vague understanding of the whole spaceflight business during the selection process. Candidates are chosen based on skills not knowledge.

Offline Zapp

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Re: ESA may face British astronaut quandary
« Reply #5 on: 05/09/2008 09:37 am »
You can’t compare South Koreas “space tourist” with  ESAs astronaut selection process.
They are a world apart in oh so many ways.  

Offline catfry

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Re: ESA may face British astronaut quandary
« Reply #6 on: 05/09/2008 11:59 am »
I still believe mental and physical agility are rated higher than how informed they are, no matter who does the selection.

Offline cabbage

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Re: ESA may face British astronaut quandary
« Reply #7 on: 05/10/2008 12:05 pm »
I think it is interesting that the media have picked a few people as case studies (Kevin Fong being one, Tracey Dickens another) and some seem very keen to say "seen as Britain's best chances" in the selection - how on earth would they know, if they don't know who else is applying?! It's not the Eurovison Astronaut Contest :)

From what Gerhard Thiele said in one of the interviews, the initial questionnaire seems to be a scoring system based on whether you've done certain things - one of the common themes that has been mentioned several times is "operational engineering" - i.e. they want people who can use equipment/troubleshoot systems rather than people with purely theoretical knowledge. I suspect that for the right kind of candidate, specific spaceflight knowledge is something that can be acquired during training. Knowing the "wider context" of human spaceflight is important for the PR/education side of the job but not so vital in terms of you being a good person to work in Columbus.

They plan to get 50000 applicants down to 700-1000 for initial psychological screening - that requires quite a clever screening questionnaire (I'm guessing that it is supposed to be at least semi-automated). The requirement for the medical certificate is likely to put off completely speculative, unqualified  candidates who are not already pilots.

Edit: ...and I'm not sure that it is possible to make sweeping judgments of candidates based on a short general media interview where they are naturally going to want to simplify. I can excuse a "finishing next year" answer because the shuttle programme will be finishing the year after the new astronauts are appointed (recruitment process finishes in 2009).

Offline Anu

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Re: ESA may face British astronaut quandary
« Reply #8 on: 05/11/2008 12:04 pm »
In response to Jonesy's tongue-in-cheek comments, I think it was a case of being interviewed live for the BBC and slipping up....it's occasionally happened to me on the spot and I've then thought what an idiot I was, getting things that I could recite in my sleep wrong on live media. It's an easy error to make - Kevin Fong has spent extensive time at JSC working with NASA's human spaceflight medical people and I think would be regarded purely on his professional background (astrophysics, medicine) as a potentially strong candidate. He was also on the Space Exploration Working Group, along with Professor Frank Close et al, that made key recommendations to BNSC on the UK's future with respect to manned spaceflight participation. As for the science correspondent talking about the potential to fly on shuttle, bear in mind that a lot of seemingly stupid questions (from the point of view of those who actually know about these things) are deliberately set up as such to reflect misunderstandings/misconceptions that the general public may have.

On a lighter note, Wales is part of the UK - so Jonesy, get your application in -you've got to be in it to win it!

Offline Anu

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Re: ESA may face British astronaut quandary
« Reply #9 on: 05/11/2008 12:09 pm »
However, there are times when even in light of what I've said above , I'd agree that the media occasionally do get it wrong so massively that I wonder........(the post-Columbia story in particular comes to mind)

Offline cabbage

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Re: ESA may face British astronaut quandary
« Reply #10 on: 05/11/2008 04:45 pm »
I wonder how many eligible members (i.e. from ESA member countries) on NSF are applying (and how many US members are applying for NASA selection?)

Offline aquarius

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Re: ESA may face British astronaut quandary
« Reply #11 on: 05/21/2008 04:22 pm »
I read somewhere that there are 7 ESA members (including the UK)  who donīt fund its human spaceflight program. Which are 6 other members?
Thanks.

Offline mtakala24

Re: ESA may face British astronaut quandary
« Reply #12 on: 05/21/2008 08:32 pm »
Finland is a full member of ESA but does not participate in funding of manned operations. Even so, they were recruiting new astronauts today in Helsinki, with Fuglesang participating as a speaker. They were making the point that they are looking for the best possible candinates and it doesn't have to be with a manned-funding country.

I don't know the other non-participating members.

Offline infocat13

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RE: ESA may face British astronaut quandary
« Reply #13 on: 05/21/2008 08:47 pm »
My brother and sister in law have done alot of NASA funded work on the effects of simulated microgravity on mice gametes.But It is unlikely that NASA will spend much on biology research on ISS.....................
So our mum was born in canada wich may make us dual citizens.So two questions come to mind,one, canada is a member of ESA does she or can she participate in ESA manned spaceflight activitys?( astronaught selection)
two, can a canadain landed immigrant apply for ESA grants?
I am a member of the side mount amazing people universe however I can get excited over the EELV exploration architecture amazing people universe.Anything else is budgetary hog wash
flexible path/HERRO

Offline mr.columbus

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Re: ESA may face British astronaut quandary
« Reply #14 on: 05/25/2008 01:19 pm »
Quote
aquarius - 21/5/2008  12:22 PM

I read somewhere that there are 7 ESA members (including the UK)  who donīt fund its human spaceflight program. Which are 6 other members?
Thanks.

ESA's human spaceflight program mainly consists of its contribution to the ISS. The 10 ESA Member States participating to the ISS programme are: Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.  

That means that the following 7 ESA memberstates are not contributing much to the funding of human spaceflight within ESA: Austria, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal and the United Kingdom.

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