- Ice training could lead to space
Rabea Rogge was given a unique opportunity by an expedition training in the icy Spitzbergen: she could become the first German woman to fly into space. During the training in the high north, she met Chun Wang and discussed the cosmos with him, the 28-year-old told the German Press Agency. Half a year later, the request came: Wang, who became rich with cryptocurrencies, had three places free in a multi-day mission with the US company SpaceX. Would she like to join? "I couldn't have dreamed of that!" she said.
Rogge is currently in the USA, where she is undergoing a training program for the flight. The young woman from Berlin is no stranger to life abroad. She studied for her bachelor's and master's degrees in Zurich and spent a year studying in Stockholm in between. If the space mission hadn't come up, she would now be pursuing her robotics doctorate in the Arctic in Norwegian Trondheim. But now she has been released from that.
Centrifuge training and technical training
The mission could start as early as the end of the year, so Rogge doesn't have much time to prepare. She has already completed the medical examinations, centrifuge training, and expedition training, she said. Most recently, the technical training in California began. "That's where you really learn how to fly the capsule."
It's the same program as that for astronauts from the US space agency NASA and the European Space Agency ESA who are also flying in the SpaceX capsule "Dragon", she said. "But of course, state astronauts have a lot more training units because they are not only in space for three to five days, but for several months."
Flight over Arctic and Antarctic
During the "Fram2" mission, named after a ship of Norwegian polar researchers in the 19th century, the team plans to observe the polar regions, the Arctic and Antarctic. Rogge is the scientist on the four-person team. She is responsible for investigating a mysterious sky glow, among other things. In addition to Chun Wang, the team includes a Norwegian filmmaker, an Australian polar guide, and Rogge herself.
The 28-year-old is definitely not afraid of new challenges. During her studies, she joined a team that set out to build a satellite. "We managed to build a prototype as a complete newcomer team within a year, test it on a parabolic flight, and ultimately win an ESA competition," she recalled. That was an incredibly inspiring time.
She then told Wang about her experience with the satellite team during the Spitzbergen expedition. "That's how Chun and I started talking about space projects." Chun Wang, whose Chinese name is Wang Chun, describes himself as a Bitcoin millionaire and a perpetual world traveler. He comes from the Chinese metropolis of Tianjin but took Maltese citizenship last year.
28-year-old wants to represent Germany and Berlin well
If the mission takes off, Rogge will be the first German woman in space. "That wasn't the first thing I thought of when I agreed to participate in the mission," she said. But now, of course, she will do her best to represent Germany and her hometown of Berlin well.
So far, twelve German men have been in space. The ESA wants to encourage more women to apply to make the team more diverse, German astronaut Alexander Gerst said three years ago. "Whether young or old, man or woman: we simply can't afford to fly only one-sided crews," he said. Women from the USA have already been in space.
Matthias Maurer, the last German in space until recently, also encourages girls and women who dream of a career in space. Maurer praised his American colleague Kayla Barron, who was with him on the International Space Station ISS. "She's a fantastic astronaut, and she does many things better than us guys."
German ESA reserve astronaut Nicola Winter believes that not just one German woman should fly to space, but twelve - as many as men have so far. After the announcement of the flight, she spoke out on Instagram, expressing her happiness for Rogge if it works out. But, she noted that it's actually a tourist flight. What's really needed is medical, biological, and material research with many women in space, "because women biologically function differently than men."
Winter lists the number of women who were supposed to be the first German women in space, counting at least seven. It never happened. What if it doesn't work out for Rogge? The 28-year-old isn't giving up. "I had planned to apply for the next round of ESA selections."
Rogge's mission with SpaceX involves observing the polar regions, specifically the Arctic and Antarctic, as part of the "Fram2" team, funded by Chun Wang, a wealthy cryptocurrency investor from the European Union.
The European Union's space agency, ESA, encourages more women to join the astronaut team and become more diverse, with twelve German men having already been in space and women from the USA already having had their spaceflights.
