Pride of Britain! Paralympic star John McFall to become first disabled astronaut in space

The ESA Astronaut Class of 2022, the space agency revealed, includes five career astronauts, 11 members for the astronaut reserve — and one astronaut with a physical disability — Mr McFall — selected for the “Parastronaut Feasibility Project” which will “improve our understanding of, and overcome, the barriers space flight presents for astronauts with a physical disability”.

Last year represented the first time since 2008 that the space agency has put out a call for applicants to join their astronaut program. In total, they received more than 22,500 valid candidates from across the ESA’s Member States and Associate Members — including 257 applications for the role of astronaut with a physical disability.

The most applications were received from France — with 7,087 submissions — followed by Germany (at 3.695), the United Kingdom (at 2,000), Italy (1,845) and Spain (1341).

Of the initial applicants, 76 percent were men and 24 percent women — with 530 women and 831 men invited to progress to the second phase of selection. Of the applicants from the UK, 166 made it through to the second stage.

After the initial screening — which considered each applicant’s CV, documentation and results of special questionnaires — the second stage saw 1,361 candidates subjected to a battery of tests from the practical through to the psychological at the ESA assessment centre in Hamburg.

This was followed by an additional, medical-based screening process — followed by two interviews. The first assessed behavioural and technical skills, while the latter interview was held with the ESA Director General himself, Dr Josef Aschbacher.

The new class of astronauts will be taking up duty at the European Astronaut Centre in Cologne, Germany, where they will undergo basic training for one year. Following this, they will move into the space station training phase before being assigned to specific missions.

Article source: https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/1700503/esa-astronaut-class-2022-uk-announcement-missions-space-station-moon