NASA has set a goal of sending people back to the Moon starting in 2025.
“Helping build something on the Moon would be great”: Christina Birch, like the other nine astronauts-in-training recently selected by NASA, already dreams of doing her bit in returning Americans to lunar soil.
During the two intense years of training that await you, the Earth’s natural satellite will undoubtedly be on everyone’s mind. And he was clearly at the center of the interests of the space agency when it came to electing these ten Americans, of very diverse profiles.
Among them, several high-level scientists stand out. Chris Williams, 38, is a medical physicist who has primarily worked on perfecting radiation to better care for cancer patients.
“I was very inspired by the lunar missions when I was a child, so NASA’s Artemis program, to return to the Moon in a sustainable way, is something that I am really passionate about and in which I would be very excited to participate,” he assured the AFP.
Birch, meanwhile, He has a Ph.D. in biological engineering. His space dream came hand in hand with his work in the laboratory: “When doing these experiments with cells and proteins, and seeing that similar experiments were being done on the space station, I said to myself: ‘Well, I have those abilities.’
In addition – and as if that were not enough – this 35-year-old woman has won medals with the American track cycling team in world championships.
“I love having a training program and working towards a very big goal. That’s something I really got used to when looking to qualify for the Olympics, ”he explains.
However, he does not have any flying experience – unlike the many experienced pilots also included in the group – and is eagerly awaiting training in the jets.
“The fastest I’ve gone is on a velodrome track, propelled by myself,” she says.
“Exciting adventure”
NASA has set itself the goal of sending people back to the Moon starting in 2025, and to establish a base that can serve to prepare the trips to Mars. To do so, it has contracted the services of the private company SpaceX, which must provide the lunar landing module.
And one of the ten future astronauts selected is precisely an employee of SpaceX.
Anil Menon, the dean of the new class at 45, has worked as a medic for the different missions of Elon Musk’s company that have sent people to the International Space Station.
This was his fifth candidacy to become an astronaut.
“It will be amazing to physically experience it myself,” he says. “As a doctor, I see it in a very different way, (…) and I think that medical knowledge is going to allow people to stay healthy and safe when going there,” he said, referring to the Moon and later to Mars.
This son of parents from India and Ukraine is used to working in difficult emergency conditions. In 2010 he went to Haiti to help after the devastating earthquake that struck that country. And in 2015 he landed by chance in Nepal just minutes before another earthquake, where he also helped care for patients who packed local health centers.
The future astronauts move to Texas for their training, which they will receive at the Johnson Space Center. They will train in space trips, develop skills in robotics, learn to operate the International Space Station, as well as to speak Russian.
“It will be a big change for our families, but it is a very exciting new adventure,” says Williams. (I)
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