Those of you who know me well will also know that to be an astronaut, to travel in space and to experience the near weightlessness that it offers has been my dream since the age of 5.
From that time on, even in such a young mind, I planned my life so I could learn more on the subject, studied with commitment for many, many years so I would be the most qualified person, and hoped that one day I could achieve my goal.
Sadly, no matter how hard we try, sometimes life does not throw up the things we wish for, and this we have to accept with patience and good grace.
It was reported last week on the Space Daily website that Russia faces a shortage of cosmonauts (astronauts) as fewer Russians show an interest in wanting to go into Space. Memories of icons such as Yuri Gagarin who became the first man in Space (1961), have faded. Funding in the last 20 years for the Russian training centre based in Star City, according to Sergei Krikalyev (head of centre and former cosmonaut) has been insufficient and needs to be at least doubled just for them to keep functioning properly.
And thus, maybe if I were Russian and with my qualifications I could be selected as a cosmonaut candidate! But is it not sad that I would have to change my nationality to achieve my dream?
To fly with NASA (US Space agency) you have to be a United States citizen. To fly with ESA (European Space Agency) you have to be a European citizen. And sadly, when my own country of Brazil selected it's first and only astronaut in the 1990’s, civilians no matter how qualified, were excluded in favour of the military.
But such is life and sometimes a dream has to evolve. Although it is unlikely now that I will be an astronaut for my country, the exciting evolution of Space Tourism will open up endless possibilities for greater numbers of ordinary people to have the thrill of looking down on planet Earth from the blackness of Space.
And maybe . . . . . . . just maybe . . . . . . one of that number will be me!
From that time on, even in such a young mind, I planned my life so I could learn more on the subject, studied with commitment for many, many years so I would be the most qualified person, and hoped that one day I could achieve my goal.
Sadly, no matter how hard we try, sometimes life does not throw up the things we wish for, and this we have to accept with patience and good grace.
It was reported last week on the Space Daily website that Russia faces a shortage of cosmonauts (astronauts) as fewer Russians show an interest in wanting to go into Space. Memories of icons such as Yuri Gagarin who became the first man in Space (1961), have faded. Funding in the last 20 years for the Russian training centre based in Star City, according to Sergei Krikalyev (head of centre and former cosmonaut) has been insufficient and needs to be at least doubled just for them to keep functioning properly.
And thus, maybe if I were Russian and with my qualifications I could be selected as a cosmonaut candidate! But is it not sad that I would have to change my nationality to achieve my dream?
To fly with NASA (US Space agency) you have to be a United States citizen. To fly with ESA (European Space Agency) you have to be a European citizen. And sadly, when my own country of Brazil selected it's first and only astronaut in the 1990’s, civilians no matter how qualified, were excluded in favour of the military.
But such is life and sometimes a dream has to evolve. Although it is unlikely now that I will be an astronaut for my country, the exciting evolution of Space Tourism will open up endless possibilities for greater numbers of ordinary people to have the thrill of looking down on planet Earth from the blackness of Space.
And maybe . . . . . . . just maybe . . . . . . one of that number will be me!
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