Our country’s commissioner responsible for space research announced with which company an agreement was reached to send the second Hungarian astronaut into outer space.
This year was the 44th anniversary of the first Hungarian astronaut, Bertalan Farkas, reaching outer space, and the Hungarian government would very much like to have a second one. In the summer of 2021, he announced the HUNOR – Hungarian Astronaut Program, which was accompanied by enormous interest, 247 applications were received, and after their evaluation, 100 candidates could start the surveys, including the isolation test.
At the end of the meticulous selection procedure, in May of this year, it was revealed that based on the decision of the expert committee, a 32-year-old mechanical engineer, Tibor Kapu, could be the next Hungarian research astronaut, while the 35-year-old electrical engineer, Gyula Cserényi, became the backup (for the success of the mission).
Now, Orsolya Ferencz, the minister responsible for space research at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, who is responsible for the program, announced that Hungary has agreed on which company will send Tibor Kapu to the International Space Station: it will be the American Axiom Space, reported the MTI. Among other things, the company may be familiar from the fact that two years ago it successfully disrupted the first mission funded by private capital, during which billionaires also reached space.
Tibor Kapu will arrive on board the International Space Station with his Ax-4 mission, where he will spend 14 days, during which he will be tasked with performing various scientific experiments. Based on the words of Orsolya Ferencz, these experiments “will bring not only the actors of the domestic space sector, but also Hungary to a competitive position at the international level in one of the most dynamically developing industries of the 21st century”. It has not yet been announced when the launch will take place, Axiom Space and NASA will jointly determine the date.
Of course, the remaining time will not be uneventful either: while Tibor Kapu and his reserve, Gyula Cserényi, finish their preparations and receive mission-specific training in the United States, HUNOR’s specialists work together with Axiom’s staff and various partners to ensure that “domestic scientific workshops , the preparation and implementation of the scientific portfolio launched by universities, research institutes and space industry companies should be successful”.
Source: www.pcwplus.hu
