2024-08-16 03:18:22
There have been no German women among the astronauts so far. That could change with a mission in a few months.
The first German woman in space is set to fly into the sky on board a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Rabea Rogge is one of four “international adventurers” on a planned commercial mission lasting several days, said the US-based company owned by multi-billionaire Elon Musk. The launch could take place at the end of the year at the earliest.
Rogge was introduced as a “mission specialist”. The German studied electrical engineering and information technology at ETH Zurich. She also worked on a concept for a nanosatellite centrifuge in low Earth orbit. She moved to the Norwegian University of Science and Technology for her doctorate.
During the three to five day mission on board the SpaceX capsule “Dragon”, the team will examine the polar regions of the earth. From a height of 425 to 450 kilometers, they will examine, among other things, a sky glow called “Steve”. These are bright purple bands in the night sky that are reminiscent of the aurora borealis. According to SpaceX, the mission called “Fram2” could also produce the first X-ray images of people in space. The other crew members come from Malta, Norway and Australia.
Rogge told X that she felt incredibly honored to have been selected. “I’m really looking forward to being responsible for the research and setting up some cool projects.”
According to the German Aerospace Center (DLR), no German woman has ever been in space. Although there have been several female candidates and reserve astronauts, no woman from Germany has ever actually flown, explained a DLR spokesperson. The DLR list includes 15 men in space.
There is no globally accepted definition of who is considered an astronaut. The Association of Space Explorers (ASE), for example, only accepts members who have completed at least one orbit of the Earth in a spacecraft. The ASE’s list of people who have already flown into space includes around 700 names.