A flight with the sensation of zero gravity, even as if you were in the middle of space. It is one of the highlights of the program “Zero-G Portugal – Astronaut for a Day”, launched by the Portuguese Space Agency, which takes place this weekend in Beja.
“The plane goes up for a while, we’re talking about two kilometers, and then it goes into free fall. It’s exactly the feeling that astronauts feel when they are, for example, in the International Space Station. Only, of course, astronauts “Feel this all the time and the participants will be able to feel this for twenty to thirty seconds, 16 times,” he explains. TSF Marta Gonçalves, responsible for the project, which is now in its second edition and is already inspiring other European countries, such as Luxembourg (Germany and Estonia may be next), to apply it as well.
These thirty young people were chosen from a group of more than 550 candidates, in a process that is “an adaptation of the real astronaut selection process,” says the person in charge. “It consists of four phases: the first is an application with some simple questions and the presentation of a video (…); a second phase in which the qualities of spatial perception and memory can be assessed a little; a third physical fitness evaluation phase, with physical tests, and a last phase that is the final interview.”
“I had already applied last year, but unfortunately I didn’t pass one of the tests, so I wanted to run again… and it even went well,” says Miguel Soares, 17, one of the selected participants. . .
Beatriz Jorge, 16, who speaks in an interview “out of the box” also turned out well. “Some questions were more unexpected,” she says, recalling that she was asked what object would be taken to Mars to represent Portugal. “Since I’m from the North, the first thing that came to mind was Galo from Barcelos!” she laughs.
In addition to flying as if they were in space, this weekend the participants will also be able to meet a real astronaut from the European Space Agency: the German Matthias Maurer. “I hope he tells us how his experience was. Deep down, he does not tell us that he is going to go wrong and that he tells us what is best about zero gravity, ”says Miguel.
Marta Gonçalves underlines that the main objective of the initiative is not to let young people get away from space: “When we are children, it is very easy to feel the fascination, to dream of being an astronaut, to look at the sky and be “As we advance in age , we think that space is something that is very far away and that it is only for people with very extraordinary abilities. The idea here is to show that space is much more within our reach than we sometimes think.”
For Beatriz, at least, the experience can help her make a big decision: “I’m still not quite sure what I want to be, but I’ve always known that space fascinates me, so it was something I wanted to know more about. Maybe This gives me more certainty.”
Last year, 320 Portuguese responded to the recruitment campaign of the European Space Agency, but none managed to fill a position. Who knows if the first professional Portuguese astronaut came from here.
Source: TSF
