OUT OF THIS WORLD

Matthias Maurer (Erasmus Materials Science 1993) returned to Leeds to discuss becoming an astronaut and spending 175 days aboard the International Space Station (ISS) in 2022.

I first realised my dream of flying at Leeds. I signed up to the Leeds Aviation Society in my first week and started gliding lessons. That’s where I started to dream about going higher. Leeds also equipped me to be part of an international team as I made friends from all over the globe – in fact, two of my Leeds friends came to my launch.

I was told I would never be an astronaut. I’d seen the advert on TV and decided to apply – I was a scientist and I’d worked in international teams, which was ideal. Out of 8,500 applicants 10 of us passed the tests, but there were only six spaces. I wasn’t chosen, and that was hard to take. Six years later, another astronaut position became available, and that’s when I got my second chance.

The first few days in space you feel hungover because you’re adapting to the new environment. Fluid is pumped around your body as normal, but there’s no gravity to bring it back down from your head, so you get a puffy face, headaches, congestion, and you lose your sense of smell and taste – in fact, we add chilli sauce to food to make it taste of something. Your optic nerve is squashed by the extra fluid so your vision is impaired. Every astronaut is given several pairs of glasses to deal with that.

I had to say “Houston we have a problem” during my first spacewalk. It’s every astronaut’s dream to open the door and step out of the ISS. Unfortunately I had a number of problems – I got tangled in the safety tethers and water leaked into my helmet from my cooling system. That can be dangerous because you could literally drown in space. Thankfully the team on the ground kept me safe and it was still the best day I had up there.

I helped carry out roughly 150 experiments in areas from health to materials science. The unique conditions allow you to carry out research that can’t be done anywhere else. We worked 7.30am-7.30pm five days per week with one hour for lunch. We also exercised for two and a half hours each day, because without gravity to resist you and keep you strong, your bones would age 15 years in six months.

When the war began in Ukraine, the country went dark. When we looked down upon the lights of planet earth at night it was the most beautiful view. But in February 2022, suddenly there was a black sea in Europe. We realised that was Ukraine. These are moments where you ask, ‘what are we doing?’. As an astronaut you can only fly if you work as a team. You look at earth and you realise it’s just a big spaceship. We can only solve issues together.

SpaceX are moving fast, and Europe needs to keep up. They had nearly 100 launches in 2023, Europe had three. I flew in a SpaceX Dragon rocket which could carry four astronauts. Their new Starship spacecraft will carry 100. What they are doing is fantastic, they are gamechangers, but if Europe don’t get our act together we’re going to miss out on the benefits of space travel.

Landing was the wildest part of all. The heat shield on the spacecraft reaches 1900 degrees Celsius, and as you drop towards earth it tilts from side to side to avoid burning through in one spot. Sparks are flying, flames are everywhere, then gravity takes hold of you again. Once you land the fluid which has been pushed to your head now falls to your feet as gravity re-asserts itself. That means you could collapse, so you have to stay sat down.

There’s no guarantee you can become an astronaut, even if you plan it well. You need luck, and need to keep chasing your dream. If you don’t have a dream you can’t fulfil it. Do what you like to do, do what you’re best at, and do it with all your heart. Then maybe your dream will come true.