24.07.08
Booo… ESA Rejected my Astronaut Application
ESA hate me:
Dear Mr McNulty,
On behalf of the European Space Agency, I wish to thank you for your application and interest in joining the European Astronaut Corps.
I regret to inform you that after very careful consideration, it has been decided not to retain your application for the post of Astronaut. However, should you not object, we would like to keep your file on record for other career opportunities at ESA and contact you if a post which matches your profile should emerge.
I would also like direct your attention to ‘Careers at ESA’ website in which we advertise all current external vacancies. You may also be interested in subscribing to our recently introduced job alert feature. In order to receive the regular updates on vacant positions at ESA, please click
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Careers_at_ESA/index.html
and follow the link ‘Subscribe to ESA vacancy notices’.
On behalf of the European Space Agency, I wish you all the best for your further career.
Yours sincerely,
F.C. Danesy
Head, ESOC Human Resources Division
And just for those sore losers out there, it ended:
This is a no-reply email address. Please do not respond to this email.
I was always going to have only a very outside chance, but it was worth it for the fun of applying. There’s not many people who can say that they even tried to become an astronaut and I’ve already had my monies worth in conversations it’s brought up with friends and relatives (like the look on my parents faces when I told them! 
).
Good luck to those who got through, I shall be watching with interest to see if any English people make the final cut. And now, if you’ll forgive the self congratulatory tone of a job application, here are my (obviously WRONG) answers to the big questions on my astronaut application form (actually these are my initial long versions before I realised that the word count limit was actually a character count limit! I had to cut these down to fit the application form):
Why do you want to become an astronaut?
Arthur C Clarke said: “Sometimes I think we’re alone in the universe, and sometimes I think we’re not. In either case the idea is quite staggering.” The universe is very, VERY big and if we are alone, there are unimaginable wonders out there that will never be witnessed by anyone except us. If we are not alone, then one day mankind will discover that there are bigger issues at stake than those confined to our small world. In either case, the most momentous events in human history are yet to happen to our species and they are inextricably linked to our manned space program.
We have the technology and the opportunity to reach out and explore our solar. History will look back at the 20th and 21st century as the pioneering age of space and record how it laid the foundation for the future of human space travel. If what humble skills I have can be put to good use furthering the development of our manned space programme, then it would be a privilege to devote the rest my working life to the greatest adventure known to man.
In your opinion, what are the main tasks that should be performed by an astronaut?
Put simply, the promotion of human space flight to the public. We have the technology, the ability and the imagination to achieve phenomenal progress. What is lacking, particularly in Europe, is the political will. In the 1960’s it was the Cold War that drove the US space program and the moon landings, since then the world has moved forward in co-operation with the ISS. It’s is ironic then that it’s exactly that spirit of co-operation and lack of an “Us vs Them” conflict that has seen the contribution of public funding reduce in recent decades, to the detriment of the space program. It is a credit then to the current US administration that they have recommitted to the manned exploration of space, something that needs to be replicated in Europe.
It is the duty of members of the European space community then, to promote space travel in order to influence political agenda and funding decisions. What better ambassador for the space program is there than an astronaut, truly the fairytale hero of every school boy and girl. It’s exactly these children that grow up to be the voters, the policy makers and world leaders of the future. By promoting and sharing the dream of manned space travel, we can galvanise public opinion and secure long term future funding for our manned spaceflight programme.
Write a candid description of yourself as a person.
Colin is a calm, thoughtful person and a sublime generalist, excelling at any task undertaken. His organised and structured mind is able to quickly grasp the core issues in complex situations, reacting with composure in the face of pressure. Whilst showing a high level of personal initiative, Colin’s affable nature sees him work very well in close nit teams. For the last 15 years Colin has worked in and successfully lead, multi-functional teams comprising 3 to 30 people, from a variety of countries and cultures. Cross cultural man management skills have been well used working on time critical projects with budgets up to EUR 30 million, where Colin typically takes on the roles of technical consultant and general trouble shooter.
Other
A broad engineering background enables Colin to grasp technical concepts quickly, which coupled with an empathetic comprehension of the layman’s level of knowledge, has enabled Colin to spend a decade bridging the gap between the deeply technical and the ordinary man on the street. Whether that be tutoring school children, being the face of technical projects to users, running workshops or giving training courses, Colin is able to explain complicated concepts in engaging ways that anyone can understand. This confidence born from experience, gives Colin the comfortable self-assurance to give presentations to wide ranging audiences, from blue collar worker up to a board of Directors.
EPG said,
July 24, 2008 at 3:45 pm
Hey, sorry to hear about ESA. I got my rejection letter today too. I guess they don’t want engineers.
In the French discussion forum (http://astronautique.actifforum.com/europe-f10/troisieme-selection-d-astronautes-esa-t5542-300.htm) , the ones that got called to the second round got called within 2 days from the last application submission date (! how can they scrutinize 8000 applications and select the “best” within 2 days?? Surely not by having a human read the applications, but with a computer looking for “keywords”), and the profiles were astrphysics, biomedicine, and aviation. I guess ESA doesn’t understand that the people best qualified to “fix” things if something goes wrong/breaks in space are people with engineering backgrounds, and people most trained by experience to work in teams are not PhD academics, but people who work in teams in idustry like engineers.
Oh well. They don’t know what they’re missing.
Steve J said,
July 24, 2008 at 9:19 pm
My application mentioned the fact I was a short hairy male nurse and would appreciate weekends off.
Even THAT didn’t work..
What are they looking for other than Belgians??
Colin McNulty said,
July 25, 2008 at 9:04 am
Well I’m not going to bitch about the decision, it was always an outside chance. I just feel lucky that I had the opportunity to apply.
Rex said,
July 26, 2008 at 4:46 am
I was rejected too, I’m a little disappointed but certainly not surprised although I would have liked to stay in the game a little longer, just to have something more to have to tell to my grandchilds when I’m old…
What puzzles me are the selection criteria: there are people in the french forum with real impressive (and IMHO) fitting CV which were nevertheless discarded. I can not understand that unless the ESA selection software had a bug or if the answered question “why do you want to become an astronaut?” with “Because it’s cool, I like all these light and buttons on the deck of the Space Shuttle!”…
Eric said,
July 27, 2008 at 10:11 pm
I got rejected too
I am also an engineer and I tried the on-line psychometric tests and found them a piece of cake. Why didn’t they make us do those tests as part of the application process? I gueass, at 45, I failed the age hurdle. Or was it that I was born in Zimbabwe?
Eric said,
July 27, 2008 at 10:14 pm
Anyone know how many got through to the second round?
Jack said,
July 28, 2008 at 8:07 am
Mine was rejected too. To be honest I was hopeful that I would get through at least this initial selection and on to the psychometric tests. I have an MD and a PhD, plenty of hands-on research experience, pilot’s licence , military special operations experience, open water diver, that sort of thing - would have thought that on paper this might be enough to at least get to the second phase if nothing else. Age 39, maybe that was above the cut-off, or wrong country, or just checked the wrong box in one of the questions…
It would be good to know the reason. I feel slightly betrayed that they probably never read the application, just discarded it by some automated process..seeing as those accepted received word within 2 days after the deadline.
Colin McNulty said,
July 28, 2008 at 9:21 pm
> I have an MD and a PhD, plenty of hands-on research experience, pilot’s licence , military special operations experience, open water diver,
Good God man, you sound like Steve Austin! If you didn’t make it in, then what hope us lowly engineers?
Whilst I agree it would have been great to find out why, that opens the door to ESA for a whole load of arguing and protestation. They’re not going to go for that.
Jack said,
July 28, 2008 at 10:27 pm
>Whilst I agree it would have been great to find out why, that opens the door to ESA for a whole load of arguing and protestation. They’re not going to go for that.
Yes, I agree, and that’s probably out of necessity so can’t blame them really. It’s a huge undertaking for them to fly in, accommodate and test the remaining thousand or so candidates anyway. Never mind handling 8,000 complaints..
I never thought I’d make it very far, but at this point I guess it’s only natural to be disappointed at not even getting a fair shot at the psychometric tests.
ESA have their good reasons I’m sure. I think they are looking for a very specific skill set, for instance I do not have any aerospace or astro related experience, and again many astro types may not have the requisite hands-on research experience or mechanical aptitude and whatnot.
James said,
July 31, 2008 at 2:52 am
I was sorry to read on here about the people whose applications were rejected - some of you sound very highly qualified indeed. Well the anti-British conspiracy is not complete because I got an email this morning inviting me to Hamburg in the middle of August. Still a long shot but I am looking forward to a little all-inclusive trip to Germany! Wish me luck…
PS The questions get even weirder. On the in-depth medical questionnaire i’ve got to fill out, one of the questions is “How many times a week do you eat Mashed Potato”. And I am NOT joking.
Colin McNulty said,
July 31, 2008 at 5:05 am
James that’s great news (not the bit about potatoes!) congratulations.
Interesting question though, I wonder what a good answer is? One imagines it may be a staple astronaut food so eating a lot is a good idea??
EPG said,
July 31, 2008 at 8:32 pm
Wow, if ESA is really selecting astronauts based on their frequency of consumption of mashed potatoes then I really have to wonder whether this astronaut selection business is actually a joke!
I’m worried now.
P.S. Anyone else noticed how ESA doesn’t seem to know that current is measured in Amps, not Volts? Practice tests on their website. Very worrying. I hope the people who wrote the technical tests are not the same ones who are designing any rockets.
Jack said,
August 4, 2008 at 9:33 am
Congrats James, can you share your CV with us briefly?
How often DO you eat mashed potatoes?
Colin McNulty said,
August 7, 2008 at 8:52 pm
Lol
Martin said,
August 13, 2008 at 10:28 am
I am sorry to hear you are dissapointed. My CV went through and after being there last week in the second round for the tests, I can only tell you that some of them are in the same line of those given to practice on their web, but much more difficult, with difficult timings, shot reaction time given and some other tests that are not in their website. In general it is very difficult and most of the peoplefeels bad after the tests. They are not the same level as those in the web. Similar but very difficult. It is a very stressful day and believeme, only those with an special character will be able to cope well and give their best. With respect to the medical questionare, not only they ask you about your eating pattern, they ask you a whole lot of things related to your physical and mental health, and your family history, it is a serious and detailed questionare made by professionals and designed to check your health in a general but accurate manner.
It is not fare to blame the selection process as a joke just because you havent been selected. The other candidates are really strong, pilots, engineers (plenty of them), most of them with engineering working experience AND PhD AND pilot licenses. In fact the age range is very wide and the CVs of the candidates are really amazing. So keep working and getting yourselves ready for the next call in a few years to see if you can reach that league.
Good luck with it.
Colin McNulty said,
August 14, 2008 at 5:21 pm
Thanks for the detailed comment Martin, it’s interesting to hear your experiences. I know some people are bitter at not being selected and I guess that’s their prerogative, I think those people would most likely have been weeded out by the personality testing anyway.
So what’s next? When do you hear about how you did?
EPG said,
August 22, 2008 at 9:58 pm
“So keep working and getting yourselves ready for the next call in a few years to see if you can reach that league.”
All well and good, if you know what they’re looking for.
When ESA says “we’re looking for this: (see website)” and candidates who meet every single requirement announced on their website get rejected, then one has to wonder, what they really are looking for that they’re not telling you.
It is not biterness at being rejected, but an annoyance at not being able to understand why. If you don’t know why you failed, you can try again and make the same mistakes. Only if you know why you failed can you improve for the next time.
However, if selections really are based on “how often you eat mashed potatoes” as opposed to, say, “what is your propensity to contract diabetes in the next 10 years (to which, to be fair, the question how often you eat mashed potatoes is surprisingly relevant, by the way)”, then you have to wonder what is really going on.
If they say that candidates can come from any of the sciences and engineering disciplines, one wonders why it appears that most of the candidates have aero/astro backgrounds and not many have software engineering backgrounds, for instance. If, say, SW engineers are at a disadvantage to, say, military pilots, this should be clarified in the requirements, and an explanation provided.
What bugs me is simply that: shooting at a blind target. If you know what to shoot for, you can aim, but I have a strong feeling that ESA was not really looking for what they claimed on their website. As an engineer, that sounds a bit like misleading information to me. What reason does the ESA have not to be transparent, and advertise the astronaut job like they would any other job, with a clear list of required qualifications, and a clear and transparent disclosure of how the selection takes place, so that people can train, practice, and prepare for the tests, much like one would say, for a university exam? That is what is done for most professions, after all.
Not to mention, again, the unprofessional nature of the ESA sample tests o their website (bad grammar, the technical tests that evidence no knowledge of elementary physics, multiple choice tests with multiple possibly correct answers, etc).
I do not of course mean with this to devalue the accomplishments of the people who do get selected. Obviously you somehow fit the profile better and I congratulate you, you have excellent reasons to be proud of your accomplishments, and this not only because you made it through the first round!
But still, I just simply think that it would be nice to know/understand what exactly the profile they’re *really* looking for is. It certainly must be not what I imagined, and as an engineer who likes to figure out how things work, I would like to understand why. For instance, if it is more important to be able to mark: “I am willing to move to Star City for 5 years with no family obbligations” than it is to, say, mark that you are a parachutist, or if it is more important to mark “I know people who work at ESA” than it is to mark “I have several degrees in science and engineering” I would like to know so, and to know why.
Just out of scientific curiosity, you see.
Best of luck to Martin and James for continued success with ESA!
Colin McNulty said,
August 24, 2008 at 6:12 pm
You make some good points EPG. I’m not going to debate the merits of the ESA application as I’ve moved on, I did like this comment though:
> However, if selections really are based on “how often you eat mashed potatoes” as opposed to, say, “what is your propensity to contract diabetes in the next 10 years (to which, to be fair, the question how often you eat mashed potatoes is surprisingly relevant, by the way)”, then you have to wonder what is really going on.
I’m interested in what evidence you have that diabetes is linked to eating mashed potatoes? I happen to agree by the way, I’d just like the evidence to back it up.
Rex said,
August 26, 2008 at 8:04 am
The frequency of consumption of mashed potatoes may indeed not be relevant… I’d have rather asked about beans =:-O
http://www.goffredo.ch/MIR_beans.gif
Jenna said,
August 26, 2008 at 10:21 am
Just to clarify about the mashed potato question - as you all seem to be getting so hung up on it - it wasn’t a single stand alone question. There was a 3 or 4 page list of foods/drinks for you to use to indicate your average weekly diet. I’m guessing this is just to give them a rough idea of how much/how healthily you eat. This in itself was a very small part of the medical questionaire which also covered levels of activity, medical history, radiation exposure history, family medical history, etc etc.
EPG said,
August 26, 2008 at 6:36 pm
@Colin re: diabetes and mashed potatoes
Just a quick search on google reveals, for instance, this:
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/524648 , this:
http://www.prevention.com/cda/article/diabetes-and-high-glycemic-index-foods/c26050d1fa803110VgnVCM10000013281eac____/nutrition.recipes/nutrition.basics/glycemic.index/0/ ,
and this:
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/news/2006/Feb/potatoes-and-diabetes-associated.html
just to name a few.
Colin McNulty said,
August 26, 2008 at 8:56 pm
My bad EPG, I should have asked the Great God Google first.