How to become an astronaut - instructions from the popularizer of astronautics Alexander Khokhlov

What kind of astronaut can you become

There are only two options.

professional

Since 2012, the selection for astronauts has become all-Russian and open. Any citizen of the Russian Federation (both civilian specialists and military) can participate in it. The main thing is to meet certain criteria, which are constantly changing and each time are prescribed in the regulation on competitive selection.

To date, three selection competitions have already taken place. July 10 started fourth.

The requirements for candidates have changed gradually and, undoubtedly, will continue to change. True, it is worth recognizing here that the system for selecting astronauts in Russia is very conservative.

The reason for the dropout may be some non-obvious reasons. For example, now a Russian cosmonaut cannot have a second citizenship or a residence permit in another country, and one cannot get tattoos.

But the medical selection factors still remain dominant. After all, each expedition into space worsens health, and during his career of 20-30 years, a professional astronaut can make from 1 to 6 flights into orbit.

In addition to health, an astronaut needs great endurance and determination, because it happens that you can wait 10 years for a flight. For example, today the only woman in the Russian cosmonaut corps, Anna Kikina, became a candidate in 2012, and flew into space in 2022.

Therefore, during the competitive selection, the psychologists of the Cosmonaut Training Center (CTC) try to determine whether applicant for such a job, will he be able to devote a long period of his life to it, while constantly learning and improving. Their task is to weed out those who would like to quickly drive to orbit.

The advantage of choosing a professional path: if you spend a lot of resources on training, then there is a high probability of flying into space more than once and for a long time. Expeditions to the ISS last 6–11 months.

The main disadvantage is that you can spend years preparing, but never fly.

The second minus is that the profession of an astronaut is one of the least free: both on Earth and in space, you will follow public and unspoken rules.

Tourist

In Russia, space tourists are called participants in space flight. When passing a medical commission, they are subject to much fewer requirements than professional astronauts.

This happens because the latter are estimated to have long-term career prospects and 4-5 long space flights, while a space tourist will fly into space only once for a little more than a week. Although there are already exceptions. For example, Charles Simonyi flew to the ISS twice.

A tourist does not need to devote his whole life to a profession - he can do different things, projects with one important condition: he must have enough money to buy a ticket to orbit.

In 2023, a 7-12 day flight costs approximately $50 million per person.

But financial capacity is not the only selection criterion. The health of a space tourist must meet safety requirements (there were cases when doctors did not allow a potential tourist to fly), and he himself must be placed in space suit and into the ship.

However, it is not necessary to become an astronaut and pay $50 million for it. Space flight enthusiasts have the opportunity, if not to fly into space, then at least touch it for much less money - about 400 thousand dollars.

The service of manned suborbital flights is already provided by two companies: Blue Origin - more successfully and Virgin Galactic - less successfully. In both cases, feel the state weightlessness and you can enjoy the space view in the window in about 4 minutes. The maximum flight altitude is 80–110 km.

How to become a professional astronaut

If you are still a student, then start from the first point. If you are already a young specialist, go to the fifth.

1. Study well and stay healthy

Russia has the strictest requirements for vision, and schoolchildren who dream of space can often be recognized by unsportsmanlike uniforms and glasses.

So you have to combine two things: good, or better, excellent, study and at the same time maintain your health.

Sports, healthy habits and a proper diet are important.

A lot of people did not become astronauts because of their love for sweets and, accordingly, severe caries.

As for studies, special attention should be paid to physics and mathematics - they are key to the astronaut profession. And at the on-site selection stage, tickets will contain questions about them.

However, there are exams in Russian and English. And with the development of manned cosmonautics, an increase in the number of scientists and doctors, chemistry and biology will be no less important.

Therefore, it is better to develop harmoniously at school, forming internal and external discipline in oneself.

2. Engage in a technopark or an engineering circle

Cosmonauts appreciate versatility, the ability to do a lot with their own hands, and ingenuity. Therefore, children's and youth technical creativity will greatly help to develop skills that in a few years will be useful at the internal stage of selection at the CTC and then in space flight.

3. Have the right hobby

At the absentee stage of selection, the commission at the CPC draws attention to additional documents attached by the applicant to the application. At the same time, it is more important to show the depth of your passion for some kind of sport, and not the number of sections that you attended.

It's good if you have certificates confirming skills that coincide with the course of general space training. This is diving, parachuting, piloting a light aircraft or a paraglider. If you play sports, this will help you pass the stage of assessing physical fitness: swimming, running, pull-ups, and so on.

But you must follow the rule: do no harm. For example, professional sports are not suitable for the profession astronaut. And the resulting injuries can finally close your professional path to space.

4. To get higher education

While cosmonauts are flying to the International Space Station, members of the selection committee of Roscosmos give preference to candidates with engineering and flight specialties during the selection. Such education is given at the Moscow State Technical University. Bauman, MAI, "Voenmekh" them. Ustinov, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology or in aviation universities and higher schools, as well as in regional technical and classical universities.

The diploma must indicate "specialist" or "master". "Bachelor" is not suitable.

However, there is a chance for physicists, doctors and biologists. But they, if you look at the results of recruitment in recent years, are rather an exception to the general rule.

Yes, not only the specialty is important, but also grades in the diploma. They can have an impact on the commission at the absentee stage, especially if there is a large selection.

5. Work in your specialty

It is important for the CTC that the cosmonaut candidate has worked in one place for at least 3 years. And preferably in the specialty. Evidence is only an entry in the work book.

Priority is given to engineers working in the space industry, especially in the parent organization for manned astronautics - in the Rocket and Space Corporation "Energia" them. WITH. P. Queen.

6. Tighten up your parameters before the start of the selection

Many astronauts admitted that in childhood they did not set themselves the goal of exploring space. Very often, they made a decision just before trying to qualify.

But that doesn't mean spontaneity is the best option. Competitive selection takes place in a fairly short time, and many parameters require advance preparation.

• Check your health. If you decide to try your hand at the exams at the CTC, it is advisable to prepare for this 6-12 months in advance. Get a medical examination and find out if something needs to be treated.
• Get Active. It is necessary to pull up your standards for physical training to the level of the TRP. Pay special attention to training the vestibular apparatus. People are generally divided into three groups: with a weak vestibular apparatus (unfortunately, the road to space is closed to them), with an average (you can train, then there is still a chance to become an astronaut) and excellent (these people in zero gravity feel like a fish in water). But there are few of the latter, and most need to train before the full-time selection at the CTC, for example, riding skiing, carousels or even just rotating around its own axis.
• Learn more about the profession. I advise you to search the Internet for impressions of previous selections from the participants, go to open lectures on the subject of manned flights and the training of astronauts. Currently available videos from the CPC with up-to-date advice.

7. Wait for the recruitment announcement and pass the absentee selection

On July 10, the fourth open selection for the Roscosmos cosmonaut corps started. Russians from 25 to 35 years old can participate in it.

Detailed requirements for candidates are described at site Center for the preparation of cosmonauts. YU. A. Gagarin. There you can find the regulation on competitive selection and all the necessary information. The commission accepts applications and documents until October 30, 2023.

Applicants for astronauts must independently undergo a series of medical examinations in their region, write an autobiography, make copies of supporting documents, get a reference from the place work. All collected documents must be sent to the name of the head of the CTC in Star City within the time specified for the correspondence stage.

The commission examines the documents received and summons to the face-to-face stage those who meet the basic requirements for health, age, education and profession.

8. Pass the selection

For those who have passed the correspondence stage, several tests have been prepared. Usually the first one is the sifting one. This is either psychology (tests and interviews), or physical education (a set of standards for running, swimming, jumping in the springboard pool, push-ups, pull-ups, trampoline jumping, the use of simulators, and so on). Here it is necessary to demonstrate endurance, speed, strength, agility and coordination. Approximately 70% of space enthusiasts then go home.

The rest overcome in 1-2 weeks a set of individual exams and a final exam-interview with a commission on a point system.

Personally, the teacher takes exams on English and Russian, operator skills (the ability to use technical tools, such as a multimeter), computer science.

And the applicant takes physics, mathematics, cultural studies, the history of space technology, the basics of manned astronautics in the format of an exam-interview of a large commission, consisting of specialists from the CPC and representatives of organizations of the space industries.

Those who have passed go to the longest and most difficult stage - the medical one.

Having passed all the tests, a few finalists pass the final selection of the commission. There are only 4-8 places in the “space class”, sometimes this figure is slightly increased in Roscosmos.

9. Complete pre-flight training

Candidates for cosmonauts must get a job at the CTC and undergo general space training (GST) for 1.5–2 years.

First, at lectures and in technical laboratories, they study the theory of flight, space technology at the initial level, undergo special training related to the structure of space flight from launch to landing. In Soyuz mock-ups, candidates are trained to pilot the spacecraft, first of all, practicing backup manual control modes (normally, most of the flight takes place in automatic mode).

Work in weightlessness is mastered during parabolic flights in the Il-76 MDK laboratory aircraft, where full-fledged weightlessness occurs for 22–24 seconds during a steep ascent and descent of the aircraft. Such slides are repeated 10 times per flight.

Candidates for cosmonauts must train to leave the apparatus on the water in case of an emergency splashdown when returning to Earth. In winter, they learn to survive for two days in the taiga, make a shelter, make a fire.

Candidates learn how to work in zero gravity outside the station in a large pool with a model of the ISS - it is called a hydro laboratory.

Develop skills to operate in difficult environments and stressful The situation is helped by training in piloting L-39 aircraft and parachute training. Astronauts perform tasks during free fall, before opening their parachute, so that psychologists can test their ability to make informed and quick decisions under time pressure.

During selection and subsequent training, cosmonauts undergo training in a centrifuge. This makes it possible to simulate overloads during the launch of the rocket and during the landing of the spacecraft on Earth.

Completing the OKP, candidates take an exam and officially become astronauts. After that, in groups, they continue to study in depth space technology and the features of working in orbit.

Then the appointments to the crews begin. First - to the backup crew of the Soyuz spacecraft, then - to the main one. The first flight on a manned transport ship and a six-month watch on international space station are also learning. The purpose of the crews is scientific experiments and maintenance of the space station, including repairs in case of any breakdowns. Even after going through several years of education and training on Earth, young cosmonauts get the main experience during their first space flight.

I must say that in the near future the algorithm may change. Preparations are already underway for new training programs for the crews of the next-generation ship known as Oryol and the Russian Orbital Station. Or, for example, with the beginning of cross-flights on ships Crew Dragon Russian cosmonauts starting from the USA have reduced the time of crew training, since the Americans do not accept backup crews.

How to become a space tourist

Everything is much simpler here. From the point of view of the accessibility of space for an ordinary person, a lot has changed literally over the past 3-4 years.

1. Complete pre-flight training

In Russia, space tourists are trained at the TsPK im. YU. A. Gagarin. Preparation for such flights takes 4–6 months, depending on the continuity of classes and the flight program: even a short visit to the space station can vary greatly in intensity. Someone just wants to look at the Earth from the outside, take a photo and record a video, while someone wants to join scientific program, including as a participant in any medical experiments conducted by professional astronauts.

In training centers for space tourists, they are taught how to use a rescue suit, how to conduct yourself in the "chair" of the spacecraft and act in the event of a failure of the launch vehicle during launch or landing. Special models on Earth (at the CTC or at NASA's Lyndon Johnson Space Center) make it possible to master living conditions, as on a space station.

The pre-flight exam for tourists is easier than for professionals. But they must also prove that they will survive in the conditions of space flight.

2. Book a flight

In Russia, space tourism is handled by Glavkosmos, a subsidiary of the State Corporation Roscosmos. On the Soyuz spacecraft, you can fly both to the ISS and in an autonomous flight.

Last year, Glavkosmos announced that the opportunity to fly to the International Space Station as a tourist will appear in 2024.

But for now, it will not be just a tourist, but a female cosmonaut from Belarus.

Anyone who can afford to spend $50 million on a flight can read the general information on the website and apply to Glavkosmos to arrange a tourist flight to the ISS. To date, the company has organized one flight into space for the filming of the film "Call».

There are three operators of private orbital flights in the USA. All these companies work with individual clients, organizing space flights to the ISS and just into orbit:

• SpaceX. Completed one private autonomous (without visiting the orbital station) flight into orbit, now a second one is being prepared.
• Space Adventures. Together with Roskosmos, she organized 9 flights to the ISS on Soyuz spacecraft.
• Axiom Space - two flights to the ISS (using the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft).

In the second half of this decade, the construction of several commercial stations in near-Earth orbit will begin. On ISS a commercial segment will be created, which after 2030 will become a private station - Axiom Station. In addition to Crew Dragon, two more private spacecraft will start flying into space. China has also started planning a tourist space flight service.

What challenges should you be prepared for?

Many people think that eating on the ISS is difficult. But tubes are practically not used in space anymore. From the point of view of food, everything is quite comfortable: there is hot food, even if you have to eat it from bags and cans due to weightlessness. cans, but at the space station you can - after the arrival of the next cargo ship - try pizza, ice cream, and fresh fruits. There even worked an experimental coffee maker.

But seriously, there are risks and difficulties, and there are many of them.

First of all, it is weightlessness. Most professional astronauts suffer from prolonged exposure to microgravity.

It is pleasant to fly around the station, but the muscles gradually atrophy, calcium is washed out of the bones, blood vessels lose their elasticity.

Space tourists fly for a short time, and their main problem is the first 2–3 days of acute adaptation to weightlessness, when they feel sick, it is difficult to sleep, and pains appear in their back and head.

There is also the issue of radiation. True, its relevance will increase in the future - during interplanetary flights.

Well, despite the increase in the reliability of space technology, accidents still happen. Two recent examples: the crash of the Soyuz-FG launch vehicle in the fall of 2018, when two crew members were rescued by the emergency rescue system, taking their Soyuz spacecraft away from the rocket. And right now, there is a crew on the ISS who had to stay for half a year due to an accident in the thermal control system of their ship. The specialists had to urgently prepare the second Soyuz spacecraft, which replaced the damaged one.