Problema 2 · Inglés PAU Navarra Extraordinaria 2026

WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BE AN ASTRONAUT?

In February 2021, the European Space Agency (ESA) announced it would be recruiting a new

astronaut class, the first since 2008. It encouraged applicants from a broader spectrum of gender,

physical ability, age, and ethnicity. My name is Kevin Fong and I decided to try. I also joined a

WhatsApp group of like-minded hopefuls. There were 23,000 applicants. To be selected, you had

to have a couple of degrees in science, preferably in different disciplines, with at least one at 5

master's level or above.

Against all odds, I made the smaller group of approximately 1,500 who went on to the next

stage in Hamburg, Germany. We did classroom tests and video games: maths and physics

quizzes, some psychometric screening and a bunch of fiendishly difficult pilot aptitude tests. The

competitors in the room were impressive: intrepid oceanographers, particle physicists, military 10

pilots and Antarctic explorers, to list but a few. Given the calibre of my fellow applicants, I was

shocked, some weeks later, to get a call for the next round of selection at the ESA Astronaut

Centre in Cologne. Just 400 of us left.

The testing day was brutal. Lengthy interrogations, psychological evaluations and 15

professional parlour games followed, alone and in groups. The next round of testing was in

Toulouse. I think I yelled out loud when I opened the invitation. Down to the final 91 now. At ESA's

medical evaluation centre, the examination was exhaustive. To check our hearts, they made us

run on a treadmill, hooked up to an electrocardiogram machine. I noticed that my heart was making

abnormal beats. The medical team noticed them too. We exchanged uncomfortable glances. 20

I hoped beyond hope that I might somehow sneak through. My email came around midday: a note

thanking me for taking part but telling me that – for medical reasons beyond my control – I would

go no further in the process. Game over.

It was a hard process to fall out of, but my participation in the process of chasing the stars 25

fuelled my ambitions in science and medicine and led to the career I continue to love here on

Earth as a doctor. However, there is a bittersweet epilogue to this story that makes me feel sad.

ESA trumpeted its intention to put diversity at the centre of this selection, but in this new astronaut

class, there is – once again – an absence of ethnic diversity. It is a source of great sadness that

a new generation of European children will gaze upon this latest ESA astronaut class without 30

seeing themselves reflected.

2. Read the following statements, decide whether they are true or false and justify your answer by quoting evidence from the text (1 point, 0.50 each).

a.

During the selection process in Hamburg, the author competed against candidates from similar professional backgrounds.

True

False

b.

The author's experience with the ESA selection process had a positive impact on his current career path.

True

False