Swiss astronaut Marco Sieber passes probationary period

Sieber says his first flight to the International Space Station ISS will probably take place between 2026 and 2030 Keystone / Rolf Vennenbernd

Swiss astronaut Marco Sieber has passed his probationary period and says he had no doubts about his decision to become an astronaut during the first six months of the one-year basic astronaut training.

“But it is difficult to be so far away from home, from friends and family,” Sieber said. Since April, the 34-year-old from Kirchberg, canton Bern, has been training for missions in space at the European Space Agency (ESA) training centre in Cologne, Germany.

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In a few years the distance should be much greater for Sieber: after completing basic training, the new astronauts will be assigned to a mission. The rest of the training will be tailored to specific mission tasks.

More specifics, he said, have not yet been decided. “My first flight to the International Space Station ISS will probably take place between 2026 and 2030,” Sieber said. This will make him the second Swiss to fly into space. He was selected from 22,500 candidates for astronaut training.

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