Sara García Alonso la astronauta española seleccionada por ESA (entrevista)

My name is Sara García Alonso and I am from Spain. Honestly, I have never considered seriously to move to the space sector and become, of course, becoming an astronaut. But when I find out about the job position and I start reading about the duties of an astronaut, about the skills, the things that this profession entails, I was kind of surprised and really appealed about this job. And as long as I was digging in, I was more and more enthusiastic about it. And somehow I felt like my skill set, all the steps that I have done during my professional and personal career, somehow had prepared me for that position. So I decided to give it a chance. Here we are. I'm from León, from a small city in the northwest of Spain. I studied biotechnology there and then I specialized in biomedical research. And then I decided to get my PhD by the University of Salamanca. I have a PhD in molecular biology, focused on cancer and translational medicine. And I have been working as a scientist in scientific labs for the last 12 years. Now I'm managing a small team focused on drug discovery and lung cancer and pancreatic cancer. And regarding my hobbies, I love challenging myself constantly, both mentally and physically. I love learning new things, new skills. I'm a very sportive woman and I try everything from yoga to CrossFit to Krav Maga, bungee jumping, skydiving. I love trying every kind of learning new things. I'm very surprised, honestly, because I have met so many amazing people throughout this selection process. People so inspiring that becoming one of the chosen ones is like a privilege. It's like a dream come true. I really couldn't believe it. But I'm glad to be here. Well, I think a new era for space exploration is coming. And there's a lot of benefit to get through this global endeavor we are facing now. Because all the technology that is going to be developed for getting a sustainable presence in the low Earth orbit and in the Moon, it's going to bring so much benefit to all society and companies. I just want to contribute to that with the mission that I'm assigned in the case of having a flight opportunity and doing all the scientific projects and research that I'm supposed to do. So, well, I just want to contribute and make a good task. It is an amazing profession. Doing STEM careers opens a lot of different opportunities. And it entails a work in a multidisciplinary and multicultural environment, which is very fruitful and rewarding for all of us. And being driven by your curiosity and your ambition to expand your knowledge is something very beautiful. So, I encourage all the young people to pursue it.