Irish-born female astronaut graduates from space training

An Irish-born astrophysicist has graduated from space training.

Rosemary Coogan, who was born in Northern Ireland, has graduated as a new European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut.

Ms Coogan holds two master’s degrees from the University of Durham, UK and has a doctorate in astronomy from the University of Sussex, UK. 

After receiving the certification at ESA's European Astronaut Centre in Cologne, Germany, Ms Coogan is among the astronauts who have become eligible for spaceflight. She was selected to join the ESA's astronaut training programme in 2022, after beating more than 22,500 applicants.

Ms Coogan will become the UK's third astronaut. She is from Belfast and from a young age, spent several weeks a year away from home onboard military training vessels and land bases as a Cadet Petty Officer with the Sea Cadets from 2002 to 2009.

During her year training to become an astronaut, Ms Coogan along with other graduates would have learned skills in spacecraft systems, spacewalking, flight engineering, robotics and life support systems, as well as survival and medical training. 

She will now most likely move on to pre-assignment phases and mission-specific training, preparing her further for spaceflight.