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European Astronaut Centre

International Space Station

Fly! Expanding space opportunities

Space missions come with a unique set of challenges – while these are hurdles that every astronaut must overcome, space agencies had not, up to this day, interrogated their impact on an astronaut with a physical disability. 

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Podcasts

ESA astronaut class of 2022: Astro Chat with Alexander Gerst

In Episode 8 of this ESA Explores podcast series, we chat with ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst about his role as head of astronaut operations at ESA's European Astronaut Centre, guiding the next generation of space explorers on their adventures.

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ESA Astronaut Class of 2022

Hop hop hooray

It’s time to celebrate ESA’s newly graduated astronauts. This Monday 22 April 2024 marked the official completion of one year of rigorous basic training for Pablo Álvarez Fernández, Sophie Adenot, Rosemary Coogan, Raphaël Liégeois, and Marco Sieber at ESA's European Astronaut Centre in Cologne, Germany. 

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Astronaut portrait - Sławosz Uznański. Credits: ESA - A. Conigli
Sławosz Uznański

Thumbs up for training

Sławosz Uznański, ESA project astronaut from Poland, gives a “thumbs-up” from the heart of the action inside the Columbus training mockup at ESA's European Astronaut Centre in Cologne, Germany.

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Spaceship EAC

Home of ESA astronauts to host piece of the Moon

A piece of the Moon, escorted by astronaut to ESA’s European Astronaut Centre (EAC) in Cologne, Germany, will soon serve as a public symbol of Europe’s next off-Earth adventure.

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Alexander Gerst

Back to Earth – crew support

From coordinating the development of space food to accompanying astronauts into quarantine and managing family travel budgets, the role of crew support at ESA is never boring. Unit lead Romain Charles describes it as: “facilitating the daily lives of astronauts so they can focus on their missions”. We asked the team to tell us more about this vital and varied role.

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Matthias Maurer

Matthias Maurer graduates as ESA astronaut

German citizen, Matthias Maurer, is now officially ESA’s newest astronaut, after graduating during a formal ceremony at the European Astronaut Centre in Cologne, Germany, on 25 September 2018.

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