Selection with an eye on the moon: Roscosmos announced the admission of candidates for astronauts

These people will probably fly to ROS

Roskosmos has announced another open recruitment for the cosmonaut corps. Some of the newcomers may get into the new lunar manned program. The MK correspondent found out how the selection will take place, whether the requirements for candidates have changed.

Since the beginning of the era of manned astronautics, 18 main teams of astronauts and several additional ones have been recruited. Of the main sets, three (in 2012, 2018 and 2021) were held in an open format, that is, their members were recruited not only from military pilots and employees of the rocket and space industry, applications were accepted from all interested citizens of the Russian Federation.

For example, only one pilot turned out to be among the applicants for the 2021 recruitment – Alexander Kolyabin and one employee of RSC Energia (part of Roscosmos) – Harutyun Kiviryan. But Sergei Teteryatnikov came to astronautics from the Pacific Fleet, his former profession was a submariner.

As reported by “MK” in the Cosmonaut Training Center. Yu.A. Gagarin, at present there are 26 people in the cosmonaut corps, among which 14 have already flown into space and 12 have not flown. However, this number is not enough – according to experts, a few more people need to be recruited for a complete set. It is possible that some of this new set will already fall into the program of manned flights to the Russian Orbital Station (ROS), and maybe even into the lunar program scheduled for the period after 2030.

Despite the fact that the announced recruitment will again be open, experts warn that they give preference to people with technical specialties, specialists in the exact sciences and pilots.

A candidate applying for the title of a Russian cosmonaut must have citizenship of the Russian Federation, be no more than 35 years old, have a higher education in engineering, scientific or flight specialties and knowledge of the English language. As for the physical form, the weight of the future astronaut should be 50-90 kilograms, height – from 150 to 190 centimeters, foot length – up to 29.5 centimeters (46th size). He should not have chronic diseases, and physical training should correspond to that of an adult under 30 years old who has passed the TRP standards. For example, a candidate must be able to run a kilometer in 3.35 minutes and pull himself up on the bar more than 10 times. In general, all the requirements for a future cosmonaut today do not differ from the previous ones.

If the applicant meets all of the above criteria, then he can safely submit documents (including medical certificates) as part of the absentee selection stage. After it, the second stage, to which they are already invited to come to the CPC to pass the tests. This is full-time medical selection, physical training, psychology, knowledge of the Russian language, Russian history, knowledge of astronautics and space technology. Based on the results of these tests, a special commission decides who is fit for the profession of “cosmonaut” and who is not. By the way, according to the workers of the CTC, the refusal to be accepted into the detachment due to a lack of points in physical training is not yet a “verdict”. Everyone, theoretically, can improve their performance and come back to “storm the top” next time.

Well, those who will be enrolled in the detachment must be prepared for the fact that another six years of study and intensive training will pass before flying into space.

Help “MK”. All documents required for the competition should be sent to the address: 141160, Moscow Region, Star City, to the head of the Yu.A. Gagarin”. The envelope should be marked: “To the commission for the selection of candidates for astronauts.”