Morant sees a "great opportunity" on the journey into space by Jesús Calleja: "He only lacks the astronaut title"

She values ​​the “milestone” of the new Spanish astronauts: “Many girls will know that a girl can also be an astronaut”

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The Minister for Science and Innovation, Diana Morant, has supported the trip into space of the presenter Jesús Calleja, who will be the protagonist of a program in which he will leave Earth orbit aboard a Blue Origin company rocket and will become the first non-astronaut Spaniard to travel into space.

“From the little I know about Jesús Calleja, he only lacks the title of astronaut. From what the two new astronauts have told us, what they require to be an astronaut is that he be an intelligent, adventurous, affable person, who has the ability to coexist In short, awake people, physically prepared as well”, Morant pointed out in an interview with Europa Press.

For this reason, the minister has joked that if the communicator had presented himself to the promotion of the European Space Agency (ESA) “perhaps” Spain would have had “a new astronaut”. “It seems to me a great opportunity to communicate what space means”, she has defended herself regarding the space travel of the presenter.

For the person in charge of Science and Innovation, it is “very important” that people know that astronauts dedicate “the great part of their time” in space to research, which is the “great objective” of space missions. Thus, she has explained that astronauts say that, from space, the Earth looks “like a spaceship” where people travel, so it is necessary “to take care of it.”

“If we don’t take care of the planet, we could run the risk of that ship disappearing. I think it’s a perfect simile, with a perspective from space, which the public has to know as a concept,” he warned.

In space, as Morant has stressed, the survival of plants is studied, outside of gravity, the new generation of more resistant drugs, in short, much of the research that is later applied on Earth.

“That is why it is also so interesting to have two astronauts who are going to help us to know what is done in space and also the fact that a great journalist brings us a little closer to space”, he indicated in reference to Pablo Álvarez Fernández ( León, 1988) and Sara García Alonso (León, 1989), selected by ESA.

However, Morant has qualified that the presenter’s trip and space tourism promoted by some billionaires “are two different models.” “Jesús Calleja I understand that he will do a scientific dissemination program and the other is a vital experience, I think they are two different things. Of course space is becoming a space of opportunities, also commercial”, he specified.

THE NEW SPANISH ASTRONAUTS, “A PRIDE OF COUNTRY”

In this context, the minister has valued the “milestone” achieved by Sara García and Pablo Álvarez when they were selected by ESA: “It is a pride of the country, because they represent the best of our country, they are two talented young people, the example of the talent we have and that we are knowing how to take advantage of, because the problem is often having talent and not knowing how to take advantage of it”.

In addition to the talent of the new Spanish astronauts, he stressed that the Government is making an “unprecedented” commitment to space policies since, among other things, it has placed the “largest quota that Spain has ever placed in the European space “. Thus, he added that they have been able to pool talent “with a commitment to the aerospace sector”.

“I would like it to be another example of what we are achieving with unprecedented funding in science. Both of them, in addition to being talented, are two fabulous people who tell their personal story of improvement. They come from humble, simple families, have studied at the public university of León, I like it as an example of a country that we are capable of creating opportunities for simple people”, he stated.

LACK OF REFERENCES FOR WOMEN

Likewise, she has specified that Sara García is going to be “a great example” for women and for many girls “who are going to know that a girl can also be an astronaut.” “As a symbol of the country, they are a source of pride for us,” she has sentenced.

Regarding the reason why there are fewer women than men studying STEM careers, the minister pointed out that “many things have come together, such as the lack of references, having had more references men than women in many ways”, something which he considers to be “an endemic problem in Spain”.

For this reason, she has opted to “begin to see how women have been able to incorporate themselves into science”, something that must be made visible in order to teach girls “so that they know that there are women and more and more that have been able to dedicate themselves to To science”.

“For us it is very important to make visible and also to legislate to promote equal opportunities between men and women in the scientific career,” added the head of the Department of Science and Innovation.

FUSION ENERGY, “ALMOST SCIENCE FICTION” TODAY

On the other hand, although he has recognized that the new achievements presented in the United States represent “an advance” in fusion energy, he has affirmed to Europa Press that fusion energy “is almost science fiction today”, so He does not believe that fusion reactors for industrial energy production are close.

Science, as he has commented, “needs its processes and its steps”. “If we were to find the technology, fusion energy is unlimited energy, it is the energy that is produced inside the stars, it is the energy of the sun. It is also completely clean,” she said.

Therefore, Morant stressed that “everyone” is investigating fusion energy and that Spain “is in” when it comes to investigating this energy. Precisely, she has recalled that in Granada the materials that would support a possible fusion energy reactor will be studied.

In this way, he has emphasized that Spain has placed itself “on the international map” in this milestone that fusion energy would mean for science. “We have watched with great expectation what has happened in the United States, but it is one more step in this huge challenge for science that would be fusion energy,” she concluded.