Would you like to be an astronaut?
You do not have to be superman or superwoman to fly in space. Many men and women, from many different countries, have become astronauts. ESA, for example, now has 14 astronauts from nine different countries.
If you want to be one of the few people to experience the thrill of liftoff, see the Earth from on high and float in a spacecraft, then how do you go about it?
Well:
First: you must really want to become an astronaut as it takes many years of study and work before you even begin your astronaut training. Most astronauts begin when they are between 27 and 37.
Second: you need to be clever enough to attend a university to study engineering, medicine or one of the sciences. Many astronauts also learn to be pilots in their country's airforce.
Third: astronauts come from many different countries in Europe, and may share missions with astronauts from the USA, Russia and China so they need to speak English so that they can all talk to one another.
Fourth: you must be healthy as astronaut training can be very tiring.
Lastly: on a spacecraft astronauts live and work in a very small space so you need to get on with people.
Are you still interested? If so maybe you will become one of the men and women that orbits the Earth in a spacecraft, walks in space or visits Mars. See you in space!
Last modified 10 September 2009
