Erstellt am: 22. 10. 2016 - 17:19 Uhr

The Right Stuff

Millions dream of travelling into space but only a select few actually get there. FM4’s Reality Check sets out to discover what separates astronauts from the rest of us.

By John Cummins

Back in the 1980s there was a film called "The Right Stuff". It told the story of a group of American test pilots, who were competing for a chance to take part in the first US manned space missions. Boasting nicknames like Gordo, Gus and Deke, the pilots had to prove that they had what was required - the right stuff - to make it through the gruelling NASA assessment.

Astronauts are a pretty unique bunch. Only around 500 humans have been into space, making it one of the most exclusive clubs on the planet. Like the land and sea explorers of previous centuries, space explorers are celebrated for their daring, their ingenuity and their sense of adventure. Neil Armstrong and those who have followed in his giant footsteps are heroes in a decidedly un-heroic age. But what is it that sets these people apart from everyone else?

Astronauts landing in Austria

Earlier this month a group of around 100 astronauts and cosmonauts arrived in Vienna for the annual Association of Space Explorers Planetary Congress. The event was taking place in Austria to mark the 25th anniversary of Franz Viehböck's historic journey to the Mir space station - the first (and so far only) space flight undertaken by an Austrian.

FM4 / John Cummins

As part of the Congress, the Österreichisches Weltraum Forum decided to hold a so-called community day, sending groups of space flyers out across the length and breadth of Austria to share their experiences with the wider community.

And so it was, early one morning, that I found myself on a train to Linz with a carriage full of astronauts.

Although there were a million questions I wanted to ask, the one thing I was determined to find out was what made these people tick. How were they different to the millions of others, like me, who had dreamed of going into space?

The best of the best

Getting selected for the space program is far from simple. A record 18 thousand people applied for the most recent NASA intake in February, with a maximum of just 14 places on offer.

FM4 / John Cummins

Keeping all that in mind, I was expecting the astronauts to be highly intelligent, technically minded, unflappable and supremely articulate. What surprised me, though, was the passion and enthusiasm that they seemed to bring to their role, the zeal with which they discharged their duties as ambassadors for space.

Mike Fincke told me with an infectious laugh about the time he had appeared in an episode of Star Trek. Chris Hadfield spoke in hushed tones about getting an email from David Bowie after recording a version of the song Space Oddity. While Bill Readdy described, in poetic detail, what felt like to look back at the earth from space.

These people were clear thinkers, trained to carry out highly technical tasks but they were also dreamers. Beneath the professional exterior was an almost childlike sense of awe and amazement. The lofty goals of the space program seemed to have instilled in them a boundless optimism and an unquenchable thirst for knowledge and understanding.

Carrying the dreams of the human race

Too often we hear that space travel has lost its glamour, that space missions are no longer generating the same kind of excitement that they had in the heady days of the Apollo and Space Shuttle programs. If anyone really believes that then they should spend 10 minutes with an astronaut and a school group.

FM4 / John Cummins

I went to the Ars Electronica centre to watch a presentation by Mike Fincke and was blown away by the level of excitement in the room. The youngest members of the audience sat with their mouths agape, mesmerized by the images on the giant screen in front of them.

Of course, being an astronaut is no ordinary profession. Rockets carry satellites and probes into space, but they also carry the hopes of the entire human race. What I learned in Linz is that the ‘right stuff’ is not skill or intelligence, nerves of steel or some other superhuman quality. More than any of that, it is an audacity of spirit that inspires us never to give up on our dreams.