INTERVIEW
Rocket Man
Michel Tognini, the head of ESA’s astronaut centre, is the the man responsible for
training the next generation of European space pioneers. Berenice Baker reports
34
FutuRe
of aerospace
THERE CAN be few people who have
gazed up at the night sky or watched
reports of the latest space mission and
haven’t dreamed for a moment what it
might be like to be an astronaut.
Indeed, the recent recruitment
programme by the European Space
Agency (ESA) must be one of the most
oversubscribed in history, with tens of
thousands thought to have applied for
just a handful of positions.
The application process is now closed,
but if you were tempted to send off
your CV, you could find no better role
model than Brigadier General Michel
Tognini, the man who will oversee the
training of Europe’s next generation of
astronauts.
A handsome and youthful 59-year-old
‘spationaut’ — the French term for
astronaut — Tognini has been head of
ESA’s astronaut centre in Cologne,
Germany, since 2005. He holds a fistful of
honours, including France’s National
Order of Merit and the National Order of
the Legion of Honour.
When asked what makes a good
astronaut Tognini described the type of
all-rounder ESA requires as meeting a
high, flat curve of qualities in many
areas. ‘A good astronaut has to be good at
everything,’ he said. ‘We don’t want
someone who is a top scientist but bad in
sport, or a very good sportsman but bad
in science. We need people that are very
good in science and engineering, very
good as a pilot and at sport, very healthy,
and able to speak with the public and
write reports.’
Tognini embodies this ideal. A fighter
pilot then a test pilot closely involved
with engineering, he has flown over 90
different aircraft. He has spent 17 days in
space, flown aboard Soyuz and the Space
Shuttle, and taken part in missions in
MIR and the International Space Station
(ISS). Fluent in English and Russian,
he is an effective ambassador for
manned space exploration.
Throughout his career, Tognini has
worked closely with engineers, and has
even trained as one himself. ‘In France
a fighter pilot first becomes an
engineer and only then a pilot, so you
have knowledge of both sides of the
system.’ he said. ‘As a test pilot, the
relationship with engineers is
extremely close as you work with them
to develop the mechanics of your
aircraft. You work together to design a
flight plan that will test the limits of the
plane.’
According to Tognini, the process
for spacecraft is similar. Between
missions, the astronaut liaises with
engineers to improve future designs.
One example was the ISS’ Columbus
module that was launched earlier this
year. Engineers built it with a great
deal of input from European astronauts
to improve the point of contact between
Columbus and astronaut. They also
worked on developing the ‘Jules Verne’
automated transfer vehicle (ATV)
for the ISS, and helped develop training
for it.
Tognini was also hired to work on
the ill-fated Hermes project, an
ESA-backed initiative to design a mini
space-plane to carry three astronauts.
Although the project was cancelled in
1992, Tognini hinted that the lessons
learned from Hermes could be applied
to future shuttle projects, such as the
proposed European/Russian manned
capsule.
Over the 20 years he has been
involved in the space industry Tognini
has seen some interesting changes, not
least in the design of human-machine
interfaces. ‘If you fly on MIR, you
operate everything by an on/off switch
or a dial,’ he said.
‘On the ISS commands are made
using a laptop computer, which allows
systems to be operated in space or from
the ground through communication
links. This saves more time to carry out
science experiments instead of doing
routine operations.’
The improved communications
means a radio and TV link to the
ground is available 80 per cent of the
time. Astronauts can even talk to their
families when the link is up, using an
IP phone.
What has changed very little in
space station design is the way
microgravity is handled. ‘You need to
have lockers and to attach everything
to the walls and the floors using fixing
devices to stop them floating around
and being a hazard,’ said Tognini.
‘Everything, including the
restroom, has to be specially designed
to compensate for gravity. Even when
working with just your hands and
arms, you need foot straps to hold your
feet. And you sleep vertically — you
the EnGIneeR 30 JUNE–13 JULY 2008
To view a Ceros magazine you need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser and have the flash player 8 or higher installed. To install the latest flash player, click the icon above, install the flash plugin and then click here to refresh this page.