The long journey to becoming an astronaut

Soaring into space remains a dream of children and adults alike – but how do you become an astronaut?

Illustration of an astronaut standing on a colourful landscape with the moon rising in the background
Becoming an astronaut is often a dream for people young and old
(Image credit: Illustration by Stephen Kelly / Getty Images)

Becoming an astronaut is a dream for people young and old, with recent polling suggesting that two-thirds of British children want to work in space.

That dream is becoming a reality for Belfast-born Rosemary Coogan, who finally got her "astronaut wings" last month, said the Daily Mail. The 33-year-old astrophysicist is the UK's third-ever astronaut, following in the footsteps of Helen Sharman and Tim Peake.

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  Chas Newkey-Burden has been part of The Week Digital team for more than a decade and a journalist for 25 years, starting out on the irreverent football weekly 90 Minutes, before moving to lifestyle magazines Loaded and Attitude. He was a columnist for The Big Issue and landed a world exclusive with David Beckham that became the weekly magazine’s bestselling issue. He now writes regularly for The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Independent, Metro, FourFourTwo and the i new site. He is also the author of a number of non-fiction books.