- First German astronaut to go into space at the end of the year
The first German woman in space will fly into the sky on a Falcon 9 rocket from SpaceX. Rabea Rogge is one of the four "international adventurers" on a planned multi-day commercial mission, the company of billionaire Elon Musk announced. The launch could take place as early as the end of the year.
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 a low Earth orbit. For her doctoral thesis, she moved to the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.
During the three to five day mission aboard the SpaceX capsule "Dragon", the team will focus on the polar regions of Earth. From an altitude of 425 to 450 kilometers, among other things, a phenomenon called "Steve" will be investigated. These are glowing violet bands in the night sky that resemble the aurora borealis. SpaceX also said that the first X-ray images of people in space could be taken during the "Fram2" mission. The other crew members come from Malta, Norway, and Australia.
The Falcon 9 is a partially reusable launch vehicle that can carry people and payloads such as satellites into space. According to SpaceX, there have been 361 launches with 319 landings so far. If the satellites are only to be placed in a low Earth orbit, the rocket can carry more than 22 tons, and for a Mars spacecraft, it would be 4 tons. The Falcon 9 has also already launched cargo spacecraft that docked with the International Space Station (ISS).
No German woman has been in space yet
Rogge said on X that she felt incredibly honored to have been chosen. "I'm really looking forward to being responsible for research and implementing some cool projects."
According to the German Aerospace Center (DLR), no German woman has been in space yet. Although there have been several female candidates and reserve astronauts, no woman has ever flown, a DLR spokesperson explained. The DLR list includes 12 men in space.
There is no universally recognized definition of who counts as an astronaut worldwide. For example, the Association of Space Explorers (ASE) only accepts members who have completed at least one orbit of Earth in a spacecraft. The ASE list of people who have already flown in space includes around 700 names.
Elon Musk's SpaceX announced Rabea Rogge as one of the crew members for an upcoming commercial mission, with Musk being the billionaire behind the company. During the mission, Rogge will serve as a mission specialist and focus on the polar regions of Earth, potentially capturing the first X-ray images of people in space.
