A couple of weeks ago I went and got my private pilots license medical certificate without any problem. In fact the Doctor said “You have the blood pressure of a teenager.” which was nice. I checked the personal medical history I keep and my blood pressure reading of 114/74 was indeed (with 1 exception), the lowest its been since I was 20! Hurrah to Crossfit and the Zone diet, that’s all I can say. I should say that my blood pressure has never been high anyway.
Having received my certificate in the post now, I have successfully uploaded it to the European Space Agency ESA Astronaut Application website, had it reviewed and been allocated a login to their online application website. Sweet.
As all good applicants should, I’ve read through the entire application form before starting it and have been mulling over some of the questions before I begin. Most of the questions are fairly typical re education and qualifications and scientific background etc. It’s the last page that brings the most interesting questions:
- What are your hobbies and interests?
- Do you practice any sports regularly?
- How would you describe your manual skills?
- Would you take up residence in Cologne, Germany?
- Would you be willing to live in Star City, Russia for an extended period?
- Would you be willing to live in Houston, US for an extended period?
- Why do you want to become an astronaut?
- In your opinion, what are the main tasks that should be performed by an astronaut?
- Write a candid description of yourself as a person.
I think it’s fair to say that all these questions were predictable, with the exception of the penultimate one. It has a potentially very broad scope and is by far the most interesting question to answer. Wish me luck.
