月に抱く「大きな夢」　ＮＡＳＡの宇宙飛行士候補生

【ＡＦＰ＝時事】自転車競技で米国代表チームに入るほどの選手だったときは、よく自分で自転車を修理していた。子ども時代は家業の畜産農場を手伝っていた──米航空宇宙局（ＮＡＳＡ）宇宙飛行士候補生のクリスティーナ・バーチさん（３５）は、手先を使う作業の経験が豊富だ。（写真はＮＡＳＡの２０２１年宇宙飛行士新人候補生ら）
　「月への帰還」を掲げる米国が、月面での長期的な居住環境の確立を目指す中で、バーチさんは大きな夢を抱いている。「月面に何かを築く手伝いをして、この探査計画の役に立てるなら、ものすごくクールでしょう」とＡＦＰに語った。
　バーチさんは、ＮＡＳＡが今月上旬に発表した１０人の新人候補生の一人。「アルテミス世代」と称される宇宙飛行士の最新メンバーだ。２０２０年代後半の月面有人探査と、その後は火星探査を目指すとする米国の「アルテミス探査計画」にちなんでそう呼ばれている。
　応募者１万２０００人という狭き門の選考では、人類史上最も過酷な探査ミッションの達成を見据え、さまざまな経歴の候補生が選抜された。
　バーチさんは米マサチューセッツ工科大学（ＭＩＴ）で生物工学の博士号を取得した。宇宙旅行の夢を抱いたきっかけは、その実験室での研究活動だ。
　「生物工学の研究者として細胞やタンパク質を使った実験をしていて、同じような実験が宇宙ステーションでも行われていることを知ってからだと思います。『あれっ、私にはそのスキルがあるじゃない』と思ったんです」

■２年間の集中訓練へ

　バーチさんにはもう一つ、大きな実績がある。自転車トラック競技の元選手で米国代表チームに所属し、東京五輪の最終選考に残り、ワールドカップではチームパシュートとマディソンでメダルを獲得している。「トレーニングプランとか計画を立てて、大きな目標に向かって努力するのが大好きです」
　候補生に選ばれている多くのベテランパイロットとは違い、飛行経験はまったくないが、ジェット機での訓練を楽しみにしているという。「私のこれまでの最速記録は、競技場のトラックで、自分の脚力で出したものですから」とバーチさんは語った。
　ＮＡＳＡは、２０２５年に有人月面着陸の実現を目指している。新人候補生は来年１月、米テキサス州ヒューストンのジョンソン宇宙センターに集合し、２年間の集中訓練を開始する予定だ。
　訓練では、国際宇宙ステーション（ＩＳＳ）の運用と整備の方法、船外活動の実施法、ロボット操作技能やＴ－３８ジェット練習機の安全な操縦法などを学ぶ他、ロシア人宇宙飛行士とコミュニケーションを取るためのロシア語を習得する。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/12/20-12:58）

As a former national team cyclist who'd fix her own bikes, and before that as a child helping out on her family's cattle farm, NASA trainee astronaut Christina Birch has plenty of experience working with her hands.
With America's sights now set on returning to the Moon -- this time establishing long-term habitats -- Birch is dreaming big: If I could assist the mission in any way, by helping build something on the Moon, that would be super cool, she told AFP.
The 35-year-old is one of ten new recruits announced by the US space agency this week, the latest members of what it calls the Artemis generation, named for the Artemis program to put American boots on lunar soil later this decade, and later on to Mars.
Selected from a competitive field of 12,000 applicants, their diverse profiles have been picked with the goal of accomplishing humankind's toughest exploration missions to date.
Among them are high-level scientists. Chris Williams, 38, is a medical physicist and assistant professor at Harvard, whose research focused on developing image guidance techniques for cancer treatments.
I was very inspired by the Moon missions as a kid, and so NASA's Artemis program to go back to the Moon in a sustainable way is something that I'm really passionate about, he said in a video call.
Birch holds a doctorate in biological engineering from MIT. Her dreams of space travel were inspired by the work she was doing in her own laboratory.
It probably wasn't until I was working in the lab, you know, as a bio engineer, doing these experiments with cells and proteins, and I saw that similar experiments are being done aboard the space station. And I said, 'Well, hey, I've got those skills!'
Another feather in her cap: She's an ex-track cyclist on the US team, who qualified for the Olympics and has won World Cup medals in the team pursuit and Madison race.
I love having a training plan or regimen, and working towards a big goal, she explained.
However, unlike the many experienced pilots chosen, she has no flying experience and looks forward to jet training.
The fastest I've gone is on the Velodrome on the track, self-propelled, she said.
- 'Exciting new adventure' -
NASA is targeting a crewed landing on the Moon in 2025.
Unlike the Apollo era, the space agency will carry out the mission partly with the help of private companies, including SpaceX who will operate the lander vehicle.
In a sign of the times, one of the future astronauts is returning to NASA from a stint at Elon Musk's company, which he joined in 2018.
Physician Anil Menon, who at 45 is the oldest of the astronaut class of 2021, was SpaceX's first flight surgeon, having previously fulfilled the same role for NASA, overseeing the health of astronauts on missions.
It was Menon, who got selected after his fifth time applying, who pulled Frenchman Thomas Pesquet out from his Dragon capsule when it splashed down in November after the crew had spent six months in space.
It will be incredible to be able to physically experience it myself, he said.
In addition to contributing to medical research, I think that medical knowledge is going to keep people healthy and safe, he said.
Born to parents from India and Ukraine, he is also used to working under difficult emergency conditions. In 2010, he went to Haiti to help after a devastating earthquake.
Then in 2015, he landed in Nepal by chance minutes before a massive earthquake, and once again helped treat patients flocking to local clinics.
In January the new recruits will report at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, where they will begin two years of intensive training.
They will learn how to operate and maintain the International Space Station, carry out spacewalks, develop robotics skills, safely operate a T-38 training jet, and learn Russian to communicate with their counterparts.
It'll be a big change for our families, but it's an exciting new adventure, said Williams.