Although it sounds like The Hunger Games in distance , Germany ’s “ Die Astronautin”competition — which means “ the female astronaut”—seeks to put the first German woman into blank . In March 2016 , 400 women enrol the competitor , and yesterday , aerospace enlisting agencyHE Spaceannounced it had selected its final six candidate . If the individual mission deliver the goods in securing funding , one of these badass ladies will steer up to the International Space Station ( ISS ) for 10 24-hour interval in 2020 .
By nurture such a large contention , HE hope Die Astronautin will inspire more girls and women to become concerned in spaceflight . “ We have shown that Germany ’s women have the skill to fly into space , ” tell Claudia Kessler , CEO of HE Space , in apress statement . “ Now we have to prove that the mass of Germany believe in the candidates . ”
Our finalist even start out their preparation on board ISS today ! Only for the press though … #Astronautinpic.twitter.com / REjcGcmEv6
— Astronautin ( @DieAstronautin)March 1 , 2017
To qualify for Die Astronautin , women had to be German nationals with a degree in engineering or scientific discipline , between ages 27 - 37 , and in first-class physical condition . Each of the400 initial candidateswere subjected to forcible and mental health showing , narrowing the consortium down to just 60 prospect . From there , the pool was reduced to just six .
Among the finalist is Insa Thiele - Eich , girl of German astronaut Gerhard Thiele , who spent11 daytime in spacein 2000 on a NASA Space ShuttleEndeavor mission . In aninterviewwith CollectSPACE , the 33 - year - old meteorologist say she was n’t attempt to follow in her dad ’s footsteps — in fact , when she necessitate for advice on the competition , he just tell her to “ remain serene and have fun . ”
Like Thiele - Eich , four of the other finalists — Nicola Baumann , Suzanna Randall , Magdalena Pree , and Susanne Peters — have professional experience with aerospace engineering . Only one finalist , Lisa Marie Haas , does not , although she is a development engineer on electronic machine . If selected , the mamma of two plans to create a program to get kids excited about spaceflight .
Proudly presenting the six extraordinary finalists for the first distaff German astronaut!#Astronautinpic.twitter.com / aF93Y8cck4
Regardless of who gets clean , the import of this competition can not be hyperbolize : evidently , it will be historic that Germany will finally put a woman into space , sinceall 11 of its astronautshave been men . But this will also provide scientists an opportunity for scientists to gather information on the physical impacts of spacefaring on charwoman ’s body , a topic we still know very little about .
In 2014 , NASA publish itsmost comprehensive reporton how men and woman are touch on by space — but while 477 male astronauts were studied , just 57 women were analyzed . Since thissample sizewas so modest , the write up ’s prescribed testimonial was to “ select more distaff astronaut for spaceflight missions . ” Yeah , no diddlysquat .
In the 10 years Germany ’s woman astronaut spend in quad , the German Aerospace Center ( DLR ) will examinehow microgravity bear on her body , specifically her hormonal residue . According to Wired Germany , this information could be useful foreventual missionsto Mars .
No matter which two candidates “ win ” Die Astronautin , this is definitely one giant leap for womankind . quad take more girlfriend king , anyway .
[ CollectSPACE ]
Correction : this article previously stated “ die astronautin ” translates to “ the astronaut”—it translates to “ the female astronaut . ”
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