Raphaël Liégeois is one of ESA’s five astronaut candidates currently undergoing basic astronaut training at the European Astronaut Centre (EAC) in Cologne. Join us as we speak to Raphaël about his first months of training and living in Germany, the philosophy of neuroscience, piloting hot air balloons, his favourite training lesson so far, and what he is excited about for the future of space exploration.
This is the second episode of our ESA Explores podcast series introducing the ESA astronaut class of 2022. It was recorded in November 2023.
Find out more about Raphaël: https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Astronauts/Raphael_Liegeois
And about ESA’s astronaut class of 2022: https://blogs.esa.int/exploration/category/astronauts2022/esa-astronaut-candidates/
Here’s the answer to one of our most FAQ 😉 https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2023/11/How_to_go_to_the_toilet_in_space_-_English
Music and audio editing by Denzel Lorge. Cover art by Gaël Nadaud.
Tune in to ESA Explores episodes via all major podcast platforms including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Podbean, Amazon Music, Deezer and more.
ESA Explores cover art by Gaël Nadaud.
About the ESA Explores: ESA astronaut class of 2022 series
In this series of our ESA Explores podcast we’ll take you behind the scenes to meet with our new astronauts, as they are gearing up for upcoming missions to the International Space Station and beyond. Back in November 2022, the European Space Agency selected 17 members from 22,500 applicants across its 22 member states for a new astronaut class. Five of them commenced basic astronaut training with ESA in April 2023, while another 11 members form a reserve pool, ready to be selected for future missions. In this podcast, we’ll introduce you to their stories and experiences from basic astronaut training at the European Astronaut Centre in Germany and worldwide, into the exciting world of space exploration. Tune in to gain insights into the first steps of astronaut training as we hear from our future astronauts, space explorers, and guiding experts, following Europe’s path to space exploration.