French astronaut Sophie Adinot is “looking forward” to starting her training

The French selected for the new promotion for European astronauts confided that they are “in a state of mind of incredible enthusiasm, and I have the energy to spare it”.

Frenchwoman Sophie Adinot, who retained her in the new promotion of European astronauts last November, confirmed on Friday that she was “looking forward” to starting her training in early April, evoking her “excitement and” incredible enthusiasm “at the Cité de l’Espace. from Toulouse.

“I’m looking forward to all of these space adventure experiences, whether it’s working with expert teams, astronauts, training, simulators, trips to Houston, Canada, in Japan to discover the different modules we’ll have to work on… she said.

“I am in a state of mind of incredible enthusiasm, and I have the energy to put it to work,” she added, at the end of a two-day visit with France’s Arnaud Prost, who has been selected as backup astronaut, in Toulouse. at the National Center for Space Studies (CNES), at ISAE-Supaéro (the aeronautical engineering school they both attended), and also at Airbus.

Sophie Adenot, 40, will begin her training on April 1 at the European Astronaut Center (EAC) in Cologne, Germany, with a “basic training” course of “12 to 14 months”.

“What am I afraid of? Not much yet.”

It’s “multidisciplinary and fairly general training on all the topics we’ll have to tackle as an astronaut: learning medicine, emergency medicine because you have to be able to give first aid if needed, understanding the space systems we’re going to get to work, a little bit of training in the bathroom.” swimming, in emergency procedures, etc.”

At the end of this initial training, one of five astronauts will be selected from the roadshow and will begin “mission-specific training which generally lasts two years before they are able to lift off”.

Other tasks will be divided among “several tasks: maintaining skills, helping to design future space exploration missions, and assisting in communication between station crews and ground teams,” according to Sophie Adenot.

“What am I afraid of? Not so much right now,” she said, and explained that she was delighted to find herself on the school benches while right now her helicopter test program is mornings “Puma” (French Army Transport), afternoons Chinook ( American heavy maneuvering helicopter), and the next Caracal (military transport, Airbus) and the next day NH90 (European maneuvering and assault helicopter).

The goal of the European Space Agency: to put Europeans on the moon

Didier Schmidt, head of strategy and coordination of manned flights at the European Space Agency, said that the training of European astronauts will develop “in the coming years dramatically”, with “the goal of the moon”.

“We are preparing a new generation of astronauts who will completely transcend the simple fact of going to an orbital space station at 400 km and back, going 400,000 km and landing on the Moon.”

For that, you need profiles that are able to stay “down to earth,” he explained: “It’s not just the astronaut, it’s a thousand people behind them who set up missions. It’s also the ability to make the right decision at the right time.”

Last November, the European Space Agency (ESA) named five new astronauts. In addition to Sophie Adenot, the new promotion includes Rosemary Cogan, a 31-year-old Briton, and three men: Swiss Marco Siber, Spaniard Pablo Alvarez Fernandez and Belgian Raphael Leygua.

All came to join the seven serving European astronauts, from the class of 2009 that included two Germans, two Italians, a Briton, Dane, and a Frenchman, Thomas Pesquet.