After Bertalan Farkas, another Hungarian will soon fly into space as a research astronaut.
Based on the final decision of the expert committee, Tibor Kapu may be the person Hungary sends into space again after many decades, while the reserve astronaut Gyula Cserényi will complete the last phase of the training, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó announced on Monday in Budapest.
According to the ministry's statement, the head of the department reported that, before leaving for the meeting of the European Union's Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels, Bertalan Farkas became the first Hungarian astronaut 44 years ago, and now
the next Hungarian mission is imminent, because the government launched a national research astronaut program in order to improve scientific and industrial developments and achievements.
He stated that the Hungarian space industry is one of the developed national industries based on the experience and traditions of the last decade, and the tests will greatly help the development of high-added-value, high-tech sectors, such as health sciences.
He recalled that 240 people applied for the mission, from which, in an extremely complex process, the experts finally selected four candidates who underwent serious training from space dynamics to light aircraft pilot training to various physical tests and scientific work.
Over the course of last night, the expert committee made its final decision after considering all aspects, and it says that
Tibor Kapu, a 32-year-old mechanical engineer, could be the next Hungarian research astronaut, who until now mostly worked in the automotive industry and mainly dealt with battery development, he said.
In order to ensure that the mission is carried out, a reserve astronaut was appointed, and he will be the 35-year-old electrical engineer Gyula Cserényi. They will go through the last phase of the training, he added.
Péter Szijjártó underlined: they will have to perform very serious tasks, both in terms of physical and mental endurance, since the next Hungarian astronaut will have to endure, for example, the approximately 48-hour journey, which must be spent almost in one place in a capsule, until the International They reach a space station.
According to his information, the chosen ones will soon travel to the United States, where the American space agency (NASA) and, under a contract, the company Axiom Space will provide the last phase of their training.
"Both will go through the same training, so if a replacement is necessary for some reason, the work done so far will not be wasted," he said.
The minister also mentioned that the other two candidates, who were still in the race until the last moment, will help the mission's work as senior staff members of the ground support unit.
"Congratulations to the two chosen ones, the pilot and the reserve astronaut. And we sincerely hope that this mission will be at least as successful as the one 44 years ago. After Bertalan Farkas, another Hungarian will soon fly into space as a research astronaut," he said.
MTI
