My ESA Astronaut Application

A couple of weeks ago I went and got my private pilots license medical certificate without any problem. In fact the Doctor said You have the blood pressure of a teenager.” which was nice. I checked the personal medical history I keep and my blood pressure reading of 114/74 was indeed (with 1 exception), the lowest its been since I was 20! Hurrah to Crossfit and the Zone diet, that’s all I can say. I should say that my blood pressure has never been high anyway.

Having received my certificate in the post now, I have successfully uploaded it to the European Space Agency ESA Astronaut Application website, had it reviewed and been allocated a login to their online application website. Sweet.

As all good applicants should, I’ve read through the entire application form before starting it and have been mulling over some of the questions before I begin. Most of the questions are fairly typical re education and qualifications and scientific background etc. It’s the last page that brings the most interesting questions:

  • What are your hobbies and interests?
  • Do you practice any sports regularly?
  • How would you describe your manual skills?
  • Would you take up residence in Cologne, Germany?
  • Would you be willing to live in Star City, Russia for an extended period?
  • Would you be willing to live in Houston, US for an extended period?
  • Why do you want to become an astronaut?
  • In your opinion, what are the main tasks that should be performed by an astronaut?
  • Write a candid description of yourself as a person.

I think it’s fair to say that all these questions were predictable, with the exception of the penultimate one. It has a potentially very broad scope and is by far the most interesting question to answer. Wish me luck.

{ 4 comments… add one }
  • welshtroll 25 May 2008, 7:58 pm

    It sounds wonderous!
    Good luck

  • Alex 26 May 2008, 12:56 pm

    Well done mate.

    I am considering applying myself, but there is a lot of things to consider: wife, children, current job etc. Also I still have not found anyone localy to obtain JAR-FCL 3 Class 2 certificate…
    Any way, may be meet you on orbit :).

    Good luck!

  • Colin McNulty 27 May 2008, 6:27 am

    Cheers guys. Have discussed with the wife already and in the extremely unlikely event that I get selected, she’s happy to leave the country. To be honest, in the current climate, who wouldn’t be?!? Being a white male from the UK though, probably gives me the least chance possible of course, but since when should that stop you. 😉

    I’m not sure how “current job” is a consideration though?

    One interesting thing though, I’ve seen many people who say they are thinking about applying, but I know of only one other that actually is, and found only 1 other blog of someone who has. I suspect that the numbers of actual applicants will be a lot lower than previously thought.

    Alex, see here for where to get your JAR medical

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