The German astronaut Matthias Maurer will fly to the International Space Station ISS in a SpaceX capsule. Who is a bricklayer and what does he do in space?
Frankfurt – He is the fourth German astronaut who will live and work on board the International Space Station ISS: Matthias Maurer. But who is the German astronaut from the European space organization Esa? Matthias Maurer is a materials scientist: He has engineering degrees in materials technology, materials science and materials technology, a doctorate in materials science and a master’s degree in industrial engineering. But since 2008, Maurer has been about space: The Saarland native made it into the top ten applicants in the 2008 selection process for European astronauts at Esa and began working for the space organization in 2010.
In 2015 Matthias Maurer was officially admitted to the European astronaut corps. This was followed by basic astronaut training as well as astronaut training, which has mission-independent elements as its content. In December 2020 it was officially announced that Matthias Maurer would fly to the International Space Station for the ESA. Maurer completed the specific training for his “Cosmic Kiss” mission at the European Astronaut Center (EAC) in Cologne, at NASA in Houston, at SpaceX in California, in Russia, Japan and Canada.
| Surname | Matthias Josef Maurer |
| born | March 18, 1970 in St. Wendel |
| job | Materials scientist and astronaut |
“This is a very intensive training, a very hard training,” recalled Maurer at a press conference before his flight into space. “Training underwater is physically and mentally demanding. I have to be focused and have an eye on my safety – I don’t want to drift away and end up as space junk. “
Matthias Maurer is the fourth German astronaut to fly to the International Space Station ISS
Matthias Maurer will be the first German astronaut to set off for the ISS with a rocket and the “Crew Dragon” space capsule from SpaceX. There will be three NASA astronauts: Raja Chari, Thomas H. Marshburn and Kayla Barron. On board the ISS, Maurer will make history: he will be the first European astronaut to complete a “Russian” spacecraft mission. That means Maurer will wear a Russian ORLAN space suit while he will install a new robotic arm on the Russian segment of the space station. So far, European astronauts have disembarked from the ISS wearing NASA spacesuits.
But what will Matthias Maurer do on board the International Space Station, what are his tasks? During his six months on the International Space Station ISS, Maurer will supervise and carry out 36 German and more than 100 international experiments. Some are basic research in weightlessness, others are application-oriented. For example, the ISS wants to research how the climate-damaging process of cement production can be improved. Other experiments test, for example, applications of non-invasive diagnostics or new antimicrobial surfaces that can also be used on earth – for example in hospitals.
| astronaut | ISS stay |
|---|---|
| Thomas Reiter | 171 days from July 2006 |
| Hans Schlegel | 12 days in February 2008 |
| Alexander Gerst | 165 days from May 2014 and 197 days from June 2018 |
| Matthias Maurer | Start planned for October 30, 2021 |
Esa astronaut Matthias Maurer: Performing experiments on the ISS
The artificial intelligence CIMON-2 will assist Matthias Maurer on board the ISS and should “show new possibilities for human-machine interaction”, according to the German Aerospace Center (DLR). The effects of the long stay in the ISS are also to be investigated – especially the permanent weightlessness, the increased radiation exposure in space and the longer isolation.
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On arrival at the International Space Station, Matthias Maurer will meet a fellow European astronaut: The French Thomas Pesquet flew to the ISS with the SpaceX Crew-2 mission and will fly back to Earth after Maurer’s arrival. Maurer himself is expected to be replaced by the Italian Esa astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti in April 2022. On board the ISS, Maurer will work with astronauts from numerous nations. His message: “If we want to work outside of the earth, then we have to stick together as humanity on our home planet”. The ISS has shown that it is possible to work together on a project that creates one and trust for mankind, quotes DLR Maurer on its website. (tab)
