This Wednesday the European Space Agency (ESA) announced the names of its five new career astronauts, including the Spanish Pablo Alvarez Fernandez🇧🇷 plus the reserve twelve, with the also Spanish Sara Garcia Alonsoand a person with a disability.
To inform who makes up this new class of 2022, ESA has made available a video with interviews with all the finalists.
We highlight here the participation of Pablo Álvarez and Sara García, two Leonese born, respectively, in 1988 and 1989, who saw their dream come true.
Pablo Alvarez Fernandez
The engineer says that space is something that excites everyone, from children to adults, and that becoming an astronaut was one of your childhood dreams🇧🇷 When he had the chance, he didn’t think twice. Upon learning that he was selected, he couldn’t hold back his tears.
He grew up in León, a city in northwest Spain, “probably the coldest place in Spain,” he says. There he studied Aeronautic engineering and, when he finished, he did a master’s degree at the Warsaw University of Technology, in Poland.
So he started working for airbus in 2012, where he had the opportunity to work on different types of aircraft (such as the Airbus 330 and 350) and space programs, such as the wanderer exomars from UK. He also lived in France.
Likes sports, especially running: completed several marathons and triathlons🇧🇷 Also cycling and hiking in the mountains.
This is his message to young people passionate about science and space: “Follow your dreams and never think that something is impossible”. He is proof of that.
Sara Garcia Alonso
The biotechnologist hadn’t seriously thought about going into space until she learned what it really is like to be an astronaut, what her job consists of and the necessary skills. So she realized that her professional career was preparing him for this. She is so grateful and amazed to have been selected from so many amazing applicants she has met.
If you have the opportunity to fly into space in the future, I would like to contribute to scientific projects and investigations. He believes that all the technology that will be developed to achieve a sustainable presence in low Earth orbit and on the Moon will bring many benefits to society and companies.
Sara García graduated in Biotechnology from the University of León and received her PhD from the University of Salamanca in Molecular biology focused on cancer and translational medicine. He has been working in research labs for 12 years, currently at National Center for Research in Oncology (CNIO)where he leads a team focused on discovering new drugs against lung and pancreas cancer.
As for your hobbies, is challenged to yourself constantly both mentally and physically🇧🇷 She likes to constantly learn and considers herself a very sporty woman. She tried everything from yoga and cross fitto bungee jumping and skydiving.
He also encourages young people who want to direct their steps towards space: “It’s an incredible profession, in a multidisciplinary and multicultural environment”, where they will be able to test their own curiosity and their ambition to expand their knowledge.