The finalists for the 3rd edition of Astronaut for a Day have already been decided
For the third consecutive year, the Portuguese Space Agency is giving 30 young students the opportunity to make a parabolic flight. For the first time, there are finalists from Madeira, Castelo Branco and Viana do Castelo.
After months of qualifying rounds that challenged the various skills of the competing candidates, the 30 finalists for the 2024 edition of Astronaut for a Day have now been chosen. The third edition of the national competition organised by the Portuguese Space Agency will once again allow the finalists to experience the sensation of zero gravity that astronauts feel in space.
On board the Airbus A310 aircraft, of the French company Novespace, will be elementary and secondary school students from various parts of the country. As was the case in previous years, Astronaut for a Day has reached various geographies – and the line-up of finalists proves it. For the first time, there are finalists from the districts of Castelo Branco and Viana do Castelo, as well as from the Autonomous Region of Madeira.
“With this year’s edition, the Portuguese Space Agency has achieved one of its biggest goals with Astronaut for a Day: to reach the whole country. We’ll have ambassadors spread across all the country’s districts and autonomous regions, which will help bring young people and their communities closer to space,” says Hugo André Costa, Executive Director of the Portuguese Space Agency.
Furthermore, for the first time, Lisbon is no longer the district with the highest representation among the Astronaut for a Day finalists: first place is shared by Aveiro and Setúbal, with five finalists each. These are followed by the districts of Lisbon and Santarém (with four each) and Porto (three).
Of the 30 selected finalists, 14 are female and 16 are male. As for the distribution by schooling, 24 are enrolled in secondary school, and 6 attend elementary school. For Marta Gonçalves, Science and Education Programme Manager at the Portuguese Space Agency, the prominence of secondary school students in this group “is to be expected”. “It’s natural for most of the students to be in 10th and 11th grade. These are young people who already have a very clear idea of the career paths they want to pursue and are therefore looking for experiences and opportunities that relate to their affinities. Astronaut for a Day is a programme that puts them through challenges that prepare them for their future and can, of course, be the beginning of a story in the space sector.”
This year, Astronaut for a Day broke records once again, registering the highest number of applications for the first stage, with 634 entries. The 30 finalists in the Astronaut for a Day initiative went through four qualifying stages in which various skills were tested. The first stage assessed the contestants’ motivation and creativity. 250 candidates progressed to the second stage, where their space perception and interpretation were put to the test. Out of these, 100 young people were selected for the third stage, which tested their physical abilities.
For the fourth and final stage, 50 candidates were selected, and their communication skills were assessed by a jury made up of members of the Portuguese Space Agency, Ana Noronha, Executive Director of Ciência Viva, and Rui Agostinho, Professor at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon.
The flight is scheduled to depart on 29 September, but the 30 finalists will take part in activities and training from September 26.
The Astronaut for a Day initiative is supported by the Portuguese Air Force, Ciência Viva, the Faculty of Psychology and Education Science of the University of Porto and the Faculty of Human Kinetics of the University of Lisbon.
