ESA astronaut candidates Pablo Álvarez Fernández, Raphaël Liégeois, Sophie Adenot and Australian Space Agency astronaut candidate Katherine Bennell-Pegg inside the hypobaric chamber at the German Aerospace Center DLR.
As part of their basic training, astronaut candidates experienced the effects of hypoxia's first-hand in a pressure chamber, enabling them to recognize symptoms and respond accordingly in low-oxygen environments in case of an air leak or reduced pressure in a spacecraft.
ESA’s newest class of astronauts, including Sophie Adenot, Rosemary Coogan, Pablo Álvarez Fernández, Raphaël Liégeois, Marco Sieber, and Australian Space Agency astronaut candidate Katherine Bennell-Pegg commenced basic astronaut training in April 2023.
The one-year basic training provides an overall familiarisation and training in various areas, such as spacecraft systems, spacewalking, flight engineering, robotics and life support systems, as well as survival and medical training before they receive astronaut certification in April 2024.
After certification, they will move on to the next phases of pre-assignment and mission-specific training, paving the way for future missions to the International Space Station and beyond.