Aim high: a simple hint to STEM scholars and to everyone
An astronaut recruitment campaign — the first in 11 years — was launched by the European Space Agency (ESA) last year. So naturally, in the middle of a global pandemic, from my home in Aotearoa New Zealand, I applied to go to space.
The agency’s call for candidates was to fill fewer than 10 positions. By applying for a role, I was aiming high. Simply meeting the criteria to apply — alongside approximately 23,000 others — is something to be immensely proud of. Working as an astronaut is physically demanding, requiring strength, stamina, and dexterity both on Earth and in space. It’s not all glamour and glory. It could be dangerous, and astronauts must be able to tolerate severe environmental conditions, and to react assertively under extreme physical and mental pressure.
Today, more than a year since the initial call for applicants, the selection process is reaching its final stages. Following a series of panel interviews, between four and six new members of the European Astronaut Corps will be named by the end of the year. Those lucky and talented few may have the opportunity to perform long-duration spaceflight missions aboard the International Space Station, to be part of the crew for the next missions to the moon, or eventually, in human missions to Mars.
This is a truly exciting time for exploration beyond the confines of our planet. The emergence of multinational collaborative projects between governmental space agencies and the incorporation of private spaceflight companies will create opportunities never seen before.
Of course, none of this comes without controversy. Questions about the feasibility of these programmes and the effects of international political turmoil on any space exploration remain. The impact of space junk, orbital debris and pollution, plus the sustainability of such an increase in the number of actors associated with space exploration must also be addressed.
But space exploration also opens doors to important and beneficial fields of study. In my area of expertise, biomechanical and biomedical engineering, it could allow the development of a new generation of exoskeletons that compensate for bone and muscle loss, with Earth-based applications as rehabilitative or assistive devices to treat common neuromusculoskeletal disorders like cerebral palsy, stroke, etc. The development of new surgical tools and medical techniques for use in space could trigger healthcare breakthroughs. Experimentation in microgravity may lead to musculoskeletal de-loading solution development, to address chronic pain conditions caused by vertebra or nerve compression. Experiments may even provide insights into the de- or re-programming of our locomotion systems, towards the development of treatments for loss of muscular function due to injury or paralysis. It’s all about dreaming big and aiming high.
Of course, the probability of being selected for one of the few spaces on this programme, from among 23,000 applicants, is low. But my message to students is this: it is only by aiming high, by challenging ourselves, and by pushing boundaries, that such dreams can be achieved. Aim high, dear students because by doing so, wonderful things will happen. Aim high and embrace the process without fear of missing your target. If I can do it, you can too. It worth to always remember a quote I recently read from the Norwegian explorer Erling Kagge in his book Silence: “Being on the journey is always more satisfying than reach the goal”
For me, the dream continues, but no longer as an applicant. Instead, I share it with those who are still on their journey through the final stages of selection. I am grateful to the ESA for the opportunity and honor of participating in this process, and to those colleagues from the process, some of them I now call friends, who aimed high too.
Lorenzo Garcia is a Biodesign Engineer, academic at Auckland University of Technology, theme leader at the AUT BioDesign Lab, and was one of 1391 applicants shortlisted for phase two of the European Space Agency’s astronaut selection process.
