Matthias Maurer

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Matthias Maurer
Matthias Maurer
Country: Germany
Organization: ESA
selected on February 2, 2017
( EAC group )

Matthias Josef Maurer (born March 18, 1970 in St. Wendel ) is a German materials scientist and aspiring ESA astronaut .

Education and life

Maurer passed his Abitur in 1989 at the Wendalinum grammar school in St. Wendel . He started his community service as a paramedic with the Malteser Relief Service . He then studied materials science at the Saarland University , the EEIGM ( École européenne d'ingénieurs en génie des matériaux , 'European Engineering School for Materials Science' part of the Université de Lorraine ) in Nancy, the University of Leeds and the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya in Barcelona. From 1999 to 2004 Maurer did his doctorate at the Institute for Materials Science at RWTH Aachen Universityand received there in 2004 his Dr.-Ing. With his dissertation entitled “Aluminum foam sprayed layer composites for lightweight construction”, he received several scientific awards. After completing his doctorate, Maurer went on a long trip around the world. At the Fernuniversität in Hagen , Maurer successfully completed an additional economics course in 2006 with an MBA diploma.

Maurer holds several patents in the field of materials science. He speaks four languages ​​fluently (German, English, Spanish, French). As part of his astronaut training, he is also learning Russian and Chinese intensively.

Spaceman

Maurer applied in 2008 with almost 8,500 other applicants to the European Space Agency as an astronaut and passed the selection process as one of ten candidates; However, he was initially not appointed to the European Astronaut Corps. In 2010 he started working for ESA as a so-called “astronaut support engineer” and as a “Eurocom ISS flight controller” in the European Astronaut Center (EAC) in Cologne. In September 2014 he took part in ESA's “Caves” speleology and training program.

In July 2015, the European Space Agency ( ESA) decided to nominate Maurer as part of the 2009 astronaut class. From July 21 to August 5, 2016 he was a member of the 21 NEEMO mission of NASA , an underwater training program for future ISS crews in Florida. In 2017, Maurer was accepted into the European Astronaut Corps. He completed his basic training on September 25, 2018. ESA Director General Johann-Dietrich Wörner assured him at the time that he would fly to the ISS within three years. This would make him the twelfth German spaceman after Alexander Gerst in 2018.

On July 28, 2020, Maurer was announced as a replacement for Thomas Pesquet for the ISS Expedition 65 and the ISS Alpha mission . His own flight is scheduled to take place in 2021.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b ESA: Matthias Maurer. January 25, 2017. Retrieved September 26, 2018 .
  2. ↑ Jonas-Erik Schmidt: Astronaut Maurer on the way into space: "Space is addicting". September 25, 2018, accessed on September 26, 2018 : "We will be able to fly within the next three years"
  3. ↑ ESA: Thomas Pesquet first ESA astronaut to ride a Dragon to space. Retrieved on July 28, 2020 (English): "ESA also was able to acquire an additional mission to the International Space Station in 2021 for the first flight of ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer. Details of that mission are yet to be established, but for now Matthias is training as the backup for Thomas. "
personal data
SURNAME Mason, Matthias
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Maurer, Matthias Josef (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German materials scientist and aspiring astronaut
DATE OF BIRTH March 18, 1970
PLACE OF BIRTH St. Wendel , Germany