Sławosz Uznański, a Polish scientist and a member of the ESA Astronaut Reserve will fly into space if Poland and the European Space Agency build a strategy.
Uznański specializes in the study of the effects of cosmic radiation on humans. This is one of the greatest challenges of astronautics.
“The effects of cosmic radiation on humans are a huge challenge. We know that we are able to sustain life in low Earth orbit. In the past, we had Moon exploration missions with NASA, but if we are talking about a journey to Mars – these doses are very, very high, for today, they limit where we can go in space. We have a lot of work to do when it comes to technological and medical aspects, and a large part of the scientific research needed to be able to plan a mission and fly.”
Uznański said.
When asked what a space mission that he could play an important role in would be about, he spoke about the scientific experiment with the AMS detector.
“We have a large scientific experiment on the International Space Station, which is called AMS, and an improvement of this experiment is being prepared. We will install a new version of the detector, and today I would be a really good candidate to carry out such a mission.”
the astronaut added.
He emphasized that “we need to build a strategy”.
The AMS detector was launched in 2011. It was one of the final launches of the Space Shuttle Endeavour. The detector is used in scientific research in the field of cosmic and intergalactic radiation, as well as the search for dark matter.
The AMS detector’s position in the hierarchy of space missions is strong for CERN. As a particle physics organization, it is one of the main detectors in space.
For ESA, it is one of the experiments in outer space but on the International Space Station it is among of the main and largest ones.
“It is a long-term strategy for Europe, and an international strategy for the International Space Station. We had very positive information from the last ministerial council in November, where we were also announced as astronauts, but also funding for the International Space Station was extended until 2030.”
Uznański described.
A Pole among the ESA Astronaut Reserve
Sławosz Uznański, a Polish scientist, has been selected by the European Space Agency to the ESA Astronaut Reserve. The selection of a Pole to this exclusive group is a massive success.
Sławosz Uznański had to beat over 22,000 candidates from all over Europe in the ESA preliminaries, which lasted a year and a half.
Candidates underwent various tests of knowledge regarding space and space technologies, intelligence and computational prowess, the ability to solve complex, unusual problems under time pressure, mental toughness and keeping a cool head under stress.
They were subjected to detailed medical examinations and underwent a series of interviews.
The ESA Council at Ministerial level was held in Paris on November 22 and 23. It was attended by representatives of ESA member states, associated and cooperating countries. The course of ESA’s actions for the upcoming years to ensure that Europe strengthens its position in space conquest, as well as budgetary issues have been discussed during the event.
Shortly after the announcement of the names of the new ESA astronauts, the President of the Polish Space Agency POLSA, Prof. Grzegorz Wrochna declared that the Polish Space Agency “will work very intensively to create an idea for a mission in which our astronaut would be necessary”.
“We would develop such experiments and tasks that we could propose to the European Space Agency so that our astronaut could fly to the international station and carry out these experiments.”,
he said.