{"id":17318,"date":"2019-06-05T09:00:36","date_gmt":"2019-06-05T07:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oewf.org\/?p=17318"},"modified":"2019-06-05T14:34:39","modified_gmt":"2019-06-05T12:34:39","slug":"analog-astronaut-training-professional-and-passionate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oewf.org\/en\/2019\/06\/analog-astronaut-training-professional-and-passionate\/","title":{"rendered":"Analog Astronaut Training: “Professional and Passionate”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Anika<\/a>
(c) OeWF (Florian Voggeneder)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

On December 21st of 2018 I got the call from the Austrian Space Forum (OeWF) that I got selected for the Class of 2019 of Analog Astronauts. I was – and still am – ecstatic and happy about this early X-Mas present.<\/strong>\n After weeks of an intense and nerve wrecking but also very fun and \ninspiring selection process I was overjoyed to have made it. Since that \n day I was counting the weeks and days until I could go to Innsbruck \nagain. Finally, on the 25th of April it was time for training block I. \nSeeing the familiar faces from the selection rounds, my teammates and \nthe staff of OeWF again made for a very warm reunion. It felt like \nfamily again in no time. \n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the\nfirst evening on Thursday on we jumped right in with the first lectures. Over\nthe course of three very long and intense training days we learned about a\nplethora of topics ranging from media training, radio language, space suit\nsystems, mission architecture, Mars and Moon planetology, Wi-Fi setup, space\nlaw and much more. Beside the many interesting fields of study, we\u00b4ll have to\nmaster over the next months there was also physical exercise in the form of a\nmorning run as well as physical test at a local gym. We went there with our\nexercise specialist Guillermo Rojo, a 400m Gold-Medalist from Spain, who not\nonly took our measure to crank out our own personalized training plans, he also\ntalked to us about nutrition, postural hygiene and many other fitness related\ntopics relevant to our training. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Anika<\/a>
Anika Mehlis during Wi-Fi Setup training (c) OeWF (Florian Voggeneder)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What\nimpressed me the most was the level of professionalism everything emanated. The\npeople teaching us – for example the impressively talented Florian Voggeneder,\nwho introduced us to field photography – are all experts in their field. That\nthey took the time to teach us was very appreciated and inspiring. The same\ngoes for all the volunteers of the OeWF who work “behind the scenes”\nas Analog Astronaut Support, as IT-specialists, as technicians and so on and without\nwhom the whole thing would not be possible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Fitness<\/a>
Fitness Training (c) OeWF (Florian Voggeneder)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

That leads\nme to my main feelings about all of this. It is such a joy to be part of this\nvery international and interdisciplinary team that has a common understanding\nof its goal – to do analog research and to bring everything together to get the\nmost science out of every mission. The professionalism and passion of everyone\ninvolved is great to experience. Everyone brings their unique set of skills,\ntheir personality and their experiences which makes for a lot of fun at breaks,\nfruitful discussions, interesting ideas and overall a great spirit throughout\nthe time spent together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Geology<\/a>
Geology Training (c) OeWF (Paul Santek)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When I went home on Sunday evening I was filled with facts, ideas, tons of “I\u00b4ll HAVE to look that up because it\u00b4s so interesting” and also thankfulness again for being able to be part of this. I was also knackered to be honest and looking forward to a whole night of sleep but looking forward very much to the next training block as well as everything else that the future holds for us as the Class of 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Anika<\/a>
Anika Mehlis dons the Aouda spacesuit for the first time (c) OeWF (Claudia Stix)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

—
Author: Anika Mehlis, Analog Astronaut Candidate, Class of 2019<\/em>

Further information:<\/strong>\n