Human Spaceflight and Exploration: A European Perspective in a Global Environment

The book presents a unique overview of activities in human spaceflight and exploration and a discussion of future development possibilities. It provides an introduction for the general public interested in space and would also be suitable for students at university. The book includes the basics of the space environment and the effects of space travel on the human body. It leads through the challenges of designing life support systems for spacecraft as wells as space suits to protect astronauts during extravehicular activities. Research being carried out by humans in Earth orbit is being brought into context to other forms of space exploration. Between the end of 2007 and May 2009 ESA, the European Space Agency, carried out an astronaut recruitment process. It was the first time that astronauts had been recruited newly to the corps since its creation in 1998 and the positions were open to citizens of all of the member states of ESA. Two of the contributors to this book participated in the selection process and hence contribute to a general discussion of how one carries out such a selection programme. The book concludes with one person’s experience of flying aboard the space shuttle on a mission to map planet Earth, bringing together topics taken up in earlier parts of the book.

· Covers the history of human spaceflight and exploration;

· Reviews the challenges that the space environment poses on space missions;

· Assesses spacesuit designs and their future development;

· Details the selection and training of astronauts;

· Discusses the success of the US Space Shuttle program in relation to the experiences of European astronaut Gerhard Thiele’s personal account of flying aboard the Space Shuttle on a mission to map the Earth;

· Considers the design of life support systems and future technologies

The book presents a unique overview of international activities in human spaceflight and exploration at a time of uncertainty regarding the direction of future development in the western world. It provides an introduction for the general public interested in space and would also be suitable for students at university. The contributors include a space physicist, two space engineers, a space-suit designer and two astronauts, who collectively have a broad experience of space activities.