However, García Alonso, who has highlighted that it is part of their work as Spanish and European astronauts to “contribute and help” the new body, has qualified that “we will have to choose the venue that really meets the ideal conditions” for the objective of the Spanish Space Agency”. The new astronaut has stressed that, as someone “very interested” in the world of space, he would say that “they have to select the best” but, speaking as a Leonese, he has said that “the one from León is better”. .
With a view to collaborating with the future Agency, Álvarez Fernández has defended that scientific programs can be developed to carry out experiments on the space station: “Taking advantage of the fact that we have a scientific astronaut (Sara García) and of course increasing Spain’s investment in the Agency European Space”.
In this sense, he has assured that the investment in the ESA is a “necessary investment that also has an enormous return in the industry, in the researchers in Spain”. “Every euro that Spain puts into the European Space Agency returns to the industry multiplied by 3.4 in the case of human and robotic exploration, in the form of jobs, technological developments and creating a business fabric dedicated to space, which we have , but it could be much stronger,” he said.
The new astronauts have met this Thursday in La Moncloa with the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, and they have also been able to speak with the Minister of Science and Innovation, Diana Morant, and with the former minister and also astronaut Pedro Duque. “He has been super nice, he has treated us great,” Álvarez Fernández acknowledged about his meeting with Sánchez.
“It has been quite surprising, we did not know anything that we had to go there 24 hours ago, it has been an honor and a privilege to see the Council of Ministers, the typical stairs where we saw the ministers with their briefcases when there was a new government”, has added. The Government, according to the new astronaut, has behaved “quite well” in recent years with the aerospace sector: “We have the PERTE Aeroespacial, with a total management of 4,000 million euros to finance the entire sector. Projects are being carried out that They can change the world.”
PEDRO DUQUE, “A REFERENCE” AND AN “IDOL”
For astronauts, Pedro Duque “is a benchmark, without a doubt.” “For me he has always been an idol, a figure to follow. When I chose to do Aeronautics it was after his first flight and probably if he had not been there he would not have studied Aeronautics”, recalled Álvarez Fernández.
Since Pedro Duque was selected in 1992, Spain has not had any member in the select group of ESA astronauts. “I think that the coming generations are perfectly prepared to show that Spain can have many more astronauts. What there are not so many opportunities to train astronauts,” García Alonso pointed out, referring to the fact that 30 years have passed without there being any Spanish astronauts.
In this way, he has justified that “there are not flight opportunities for all astronauts” since training them “requires a lot of time and a lot of investment.” “You can’t train as many astronauts if you can’t guarantee they’re going to go into space. It doesn’t depend on the talent we have here but on the opportunities that arise,” she said.
Despite the fact that they consider Pedro Duque a “reference” and an “idol”, the new astronauts do not believe that they will follow their steps in politics. Thus, Álvarez Fernández has flatly ruled out directing the Ministry of Science and Innovation: “Not me.”
For her part, although she has not completely ruled it out, the new astronaut has stated: “I don’t believe, but you can never deny anything because you don’t know how your future is going to develop, but in principle it is not in our plans.”
WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF PUTIN REMOVED SATELLITES?
Regarding the possible threats that may exist in space, the astronaut has warned of what could happen if Russia, because of the war, decides to eliminate Starlik satellites, which is ceding its services to Ukraine. What would happen, as Álvarez Fernández has pointed out, is that low orbit could not be used. “We would be left without a space station, we would be left without GPS services and all telecommunications would be greatly affected. All of us who live in Spain are using many satellites every day,” he said.
“All our day to day depends on those satellites that are there, that from the outset is a threat to our lives, to our lives in an increasingly digitized world as we know it,” García Alonso warned.
When asked if it is more difficult for women to become an astronaut, García Alonso does not consider that it is more difficult for a woman “at the level of abilities”. Precisely, he has stressed that, of all the candidacies, 25% who applied were women but at the end of the 17 selected “almost 50%” have been women which, in his opinion, “indicates a lot about the abilities to be an astronaut ” that have; and she has explained that the ESA “advocates for exclusivity” and not only between men and women, but also at the level of people with disabilities since “they intend to hire a parastronaut”.
Regarding being a reference for future generations, the astronaut has pointed out that it would be “an immense pride to have that figure and to have served for it.” “If the fact that other girls see that it’s possible and that inspires them not to be afraid to pursue something that motivates them, a science career that at first seems like it’s not for them, if this inspires them it will be a huge pride for me to have this figure and to have served for it”, he commented.
The astronaut also believes that the ESA selection process “is very fair” to “select the ideal candidates.” Specifically, he has explained that it is the “most aseptic” process that he has seen in his life, since there were “numbers in each and every one of the phases”: “The process is very fair.”
SPACE TOURISM, A NEW MARKET THAT CAN BE TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF
The astronauts have also valued the space tourism carried out by some millionaires such as the founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, a “new” market that they consider to be “in development”, although the ESA has “very different objectives” such as scientific development and technological”.
However, Álvarez Fernández has recognized that these new opportunities “open up new opportunities” that they can take advantage of, such as “technological improvements, lowering the cost of going into space, improvements in terms of contamination of the different processes”: “There are two issues different but we cannot be against”.
A few weeks ago, part of the European airspace, including Spain, was affected by the re-entry of a Chinese rocket into the atmosphere. “You cannot leave garbage above, nor can you allow something like this to fly over a city like Barcelona or to close the airspace for two hours,” warned the astronaut.
“There should be good traffic management, a good way to manage everything in low orbit well because we need all those satellites,” the astronaut concluded.
