Episode 1 Astronauts: Do You Have What It Takes?

Wow! That's a beautiful thing.

Look at that.

250 miles above us, six people are living in space.

All right.

Millions dream of going into orbit,

but few ever make it a reality.

Now, a hand-picked group of exceptional applicants...

Go!

..are about to be put through astronaut selection...

..by former commander of the International Space Station,

Chris Hadfield.

Ten seconds, hands on your head, go.

Over six weeks, with access to

remarkable training facilities across the globe,

the candidates will face a series of gruelling tests...

I can't quit. I've got the determination

to see it through to the end.

..using standards set by the world's space agencies.

Being sat in a chair where astronauts have actually sat

and trained is such a privilege.

Going to 4.5.

We keep raising the bar and see who can keep getting over it.

That's what astronaut selection is all about.

Those who fail to make the grade can be asked to leave at any time.

The reality is your scores have not been high.

But for the person who impresses the most...

I feel like I absolutely smashed that.

..the ultimate reference.

Oh, whoa!

Chris's backing for their

application when the space agencies next take on recruits.

Everything I've done has been so I could be ready.

I want to know that I've got what it takes to be an astronaut.

We really want to put the best people...

..on to the rocket ship.

-Hello.

-Hi.

-How are you doing?

-Good, how are you?

-I'm good.

-From thousands of applicants,

Chris has chosen 12 astronaut

candidates using the demanding criteria of

space agency selection.

How you doing?

In order to be an astronaut, there are three main things.

Number one, you need a healthy body.

Number two, have a proven ability to learn complicated things.

And then the third, you want people that have a proven ability to make

good decisions when the consequences really matter.

I'm in the air force.

I fly, um...

massive aircraft. How about you, what do you do?

-I'm a surgeon.

-Oh, OK.

You choose doctors because they make life or death decisions,

or pilots because they're always in that boat.

So I did theoretical physics. I've just finished my PhD

-last year.

-I study cosmochemistry.

What can that possibly mean?

I'm a geologist that looks at space rocks.

Then you're looking for more subtle things.

-I'm Merritt.

-Vijay.

-Pleasure.

-Is this a person I want to fly in space with?

Hello. Hi.

Looking good, looking good.

The first stage of selection will

see the astronaut candidates tested for these fundamental qualities.

The tests we're putting the candidates through are as close as

possible to what all of the space agencies do. In fact,

sometimes, they're identical.

The European Space Agency rarely hires new recruits,

and with over 8,000 applying at the last selection almost ten years ago,

a reference from someone with

Chris's credentials could make all the difference.

To have a chance to go through a full selection process,

I can't think of any better way to

prepare yourself for the next astronaut selection.

Working alongside Chris to assess the candidates,

trauma specialist and former Nasa medical researcher, Dr Kevin Fong.

There is no tougher selection process than astronaut selection.

There's no more applied-for job with a higher bar set.

Kevin applied to the European Space Agency himself in 2008.

I've done it. I didn't get through it.

I have deep sympathy for these candidates.

It's going to be tough.

Third panel member is director of the Centre for Space Medicine,

psychologist Dr Iya Whiteley.

She's developed training for the European astronaut corps.

Observing the candidates is the prime objective.

People can filter their words, but they can't filter their behaviour.

In line with space agency selection,

those who don't deliver can be asked to leave at any point.

Good morning.

Thousands of people wanted to be where you are right now.

And you are the final 12.

So immense congratulations to you, but at the same time...

..you are now nothing. You're starting over.

You are rookies.

We're going to start the astronaut

selection process with a flying task.

The thing that we'll be

testing you on is your ability to hover the helicopter,

and what you need to do is hold it as perfectly motionless as you can.

Wow.

Be proud, be humble, and good luck.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

I know nothing about the

technicalities of flying anything other than a paper aeroplane.

The strengths which I have as a surgeon is what I like to tell to my

patients, very stable hands.

I feel I'm going to be a like James Bond -

he always messes up the first two times and then on the third time he

nails it. I'm hoping that whatever happens,

it's going to look quite stylish.

The panel will be watching the hover and monitoring the cockpit from

inside the hangar.

Derreck walks like a big, strong guy,

like he's got sort of a swagger to the way he walks.

27-year-old Derreck will be put to the test by Tamzin Evans,

who's been an instructor for ten years.

Well, you should sit and relax for the minute, yes, yes.

-Admire the view.

-Yes, precisely!

I'm starting with this test for two reasons.

One, because of the skill set of the astronauts that Nasa are choosing

right now includes helicopter flying,

same as we're putting our candidates through here.

And two, because it's hard.

This is going to be a complex test of mental capacity,

technical ability, and of nerve.

Derreck is in charge of safety at nuclear power stations.

He's fluent in three languages and has a black belt in judo.

But like the rest of the candidates,

he's never flown a helicopter before.

Oh, look, he's got his game face on now.

-Yeah.

-I'm competitive when I take part in a challenge.

I'd like to win and I want to make sure I get the best out of myself.

To hover the helicopter,

they've each been given 15 minutes to master three controls.

Right, what I'd like you to do is pop your feet on the pedals for me.

-You're going to start off on the pedals.

-Sure.

First, the pedals, which work as a rudder.

They tilt the rotor blades and the tail of the chopper,

which moves the nose left or right.

-You have control of the pedals.

-I have control.

He's got it, yeah, he's pointing in the right direction.

These are people that are not used to failing.

Some of them will never get it and

so it will be revealing how they deal

-with it.

-The next control, called the collective,

is a lever operated with the left hand.

I'd like you to put your left hand down onto the collective for me.

-Sure.

-The collective controls the height.

-Yeah.

-It tilts the blades on the main rotor,

which changes the amount of lift,

making the helicopter move up or down.

-So if I wanted to go up...

-Yeah.

I just need to raise it up and we start to climb.

Yeah.

You have control of the collective only.

OK.

-Shall I move up?

-No, I just want you to stay at this height, please.

OK.

He seems to have it steady.

OK.

I have control of the collective.

The next thing we're going to do is have a go on the cyclic.

-Sure.

-Right hand on the cyclic for me, please.

Get yourself nice and comfortable.

Ah, onto the cyclic.

The hardest of the three.

With the first two controls, the helicopter has remained on the spot.

But the final control, the cyclic, makes the chopper move around.

It controls the angle of the entire rotor disc.

Tilting it in any direction makes the helicopter move the same way.

Cyclic controls our position over the ground.

Only if Derreck can master the cyclic will he be allowed to attempt

all controls at once.

So I'd like you to keep us in this position.

-Yeah.

-You have control of the cyclic only.

I have control.

The cyclic is the most sensitive of the three controls.

The slightest touch makes all the difference.

OK. Delay.

Yes.

-Got you.

-Sensitive.

-Yeah.

You have control of the cyclic.

I have control.

Come on.

So there's no real progress.

-No.

-I think as soon as he starts thinking about it too much,

he seems to be losing it.

And so I have control.

Not getting much progress on my behalf here.

Right. What we'll do is we'll head back.

Time's up.

He never calibrated on that cyclic, did he?

Having failed to get as far as trying all three controls together,

Derreck didn't hold a full hover.

You could sense the frustration within him at the end.

-Yeah, you really could.

-I could have done a lot better.

Although you kind of know what you're doing wrong,

for some reason it doesn't click

what you should be doing in order to make that better.

Not all the candidates are new to the art of flying.

Kerry is a pilot in the RAF.

The original astronauts that were chosen by Nasa were all pilots,

so hopefully my military and aviation background

might stand me in good stead.

So keep looking out ahead.

-Yes.

-See if you can keep us in this position.

You have control of the collective.

I have control of the collective.

Kerry quickly masters each of the controls individually.

So that's rock-steady.

She's quite relaxed.

She's totally got this.

-Look at that.

-Brilliant.

Just to see how you get on, I'm

going to give you all three controls now.

-Yeah, let's do it.

-You have all the controls.

I have all the controls.

She's got all of them now.

Let's start the clock. Let's see how she goes.

Kevin is timing how long each

candidate can hold a hover before Tamzin has to intervene.

This is pretty good.

The comfort of her experience in the cockpit is helping her, I think.

A lot of the stuff is familiar.

Crazy, isn't it? It's brilliant.

-Oh, yeah.

-Kerry managed a full hover for 24 seconds.

Next, it's Merritt.

I've only failed my driving test three times and, like,

crashed every car I've gotten into,

but I think helicopters are different.

So first control the rudder,

try to keep it from a pitching from side to side.

So you have control of the pedals.

Have you got control of the pedals?

I have control of the pedals.

-Well done.

-When Tamzin said you have control,

she didn't say, "I have control," so she's overloaded.

Astronauts must be able to communicate effectively

whilst performing complex tasks,

something the candidates need to demonstrate during selection.

She's losing a bit now.

Merritt is actually not using a reference point.

That's right, she's looking at her feet.

Merritt's nearly used up her 15

minutes trying to master the controls individually.

And then pull back a little bit and then push forward now.

-Push forward now.

-Push forward a little bit more

and then pull back now.

-OK.

-And I have control.

Oh, my God!

Right, time to head home.

She's shaking her head.

She's very disappointed, isn't she?

-Look at this.

-Yeah.

I'm just a bit frustrated, I think, with myself.

It would suck, it would really,

really suck to leave the process at this point.

Ohh!

Merritt is not the only person to struggle with the test.

So I'd like you to keep us in this position.

You have control of the cyclic.

There she goes, just took off.

Five seconds to improve upon there.

Try and keep us in this position.

You have control of the cyclic.

I have control.

-And I have control.

-You have control.

Gave it up, ten seconds.

You have control of the cyclic only.

I have control.

You have control.

-I have control.

-He gave up control

as soon as he felt he was getting away

-from her.

-I think once he loses, he doesn't know how to come back.

You have control of the cyclic.

-I have control.

-Taken off backwards this time.

And I have control.

After six seconds.

You have control.

I have control.

-You have control.

-I have control.

-You have control.

-I have control.

So, he has a low threshold of where he wants to keep fighting it.

Apparently plays a lot of video games, Tim,

so let's see if a misspent childhood pays dividends here.

-You have control of the cyclic.

-I have control.

23-year-old Tim is the youngest candidate.

-Whoa!

-And I have control.

-You have control.

I'm thinking the video games didn't help!

No, you're right!

Right, I'd like you to follow me

through on all three controls, please.

-OK.

-You have all the controls.

-I have control.

-She's giving him all three.

She's trusting him with all three.

But he's less tense just now and he's controlling it so far.

Just keep it from...

The pendulum's getting bigger and bigger.

She's letting him.

-He got it back.

-Wow.

-Wow.

-Well done from her.

-Really good.

Good for him.

OK, I take that back, he is a good video gamer, all right!

He's got it. 25 seconds.

-He's hovering.

-Best so far.

-This is awesome.

-You have control.

-Right, we'll head home.

-That was amazing.

That was so cool.

I just flew a helicopter!

Out of the 12, only Kerry and Tim held a full hover.

At 30 seconds, PhD student Tim

managed the longest time of the two.

That's one of the most surreal things I've ever done.

I actually flew it. You move the lever and it goes to the right and

you move it back and it goes to the left,

you can go up and down and side to side and forwards and backwards.

That was really cool!

To have control of a bird which is just flying,

very, very sensitive.

That thing is miles difficult than doing an operation.

The panel has asked instructor Tamzin for her feedback.

So who would be your top two or three and your bottom two or three?

Teachability as a helicopter pilot,

you're going to have to go for Kerry and Tim.

Kerry, if I'd given her a little bit longer,

she would have mastered the art of the hover.

Tim, for somebody who's never been up in a helicopter before,

did very well. Didn't ask for any

help but in actual fact he didn't need

my help. He worked it out for himself.

How often do you see that?

-Rarely.

-OK.

In ten years, I've seen six people master it on their first go.

-Wow.

-So he did very well.

-And the bottom?

-Bottom two would have to the Prash and Derreck.

Prash, the weakest candidate we had today.

OK.

If it went wrong, he just handed back to me to sort it out,

whereas I wanted him to try and correct it.

The fact he did hand it back is good, that's a positive,

because it means you know your weakness.

But he actually handed it back to me too much.

Derreck tensed up.

You tense, it doesn't go well.

If you were flying a helicopter

that required two crew,

who would you least like to have as your crew member?

Probably Merritt. The thing I noticed

is she was saying, "You have control,"

but she wasn't actually releasing the controls on a few occasions.

So was an indication of the level of stress we had her under,

that she lost track of what she was actually doing.

-Exactly, yes.

-OK.

Prash being the lowest of all 12,

did that surprise you at all?

I think he could have tried a bit

longer because on every mission that you do,

you have to learn new skills, so their ability to absorb new material

and implement it straightaway, that's vital.

If I'm given a task, I take it very, very seriously.

Let it be small or large.

My biggest fear is failure.

The famous words of Gene Kranz, Apollo 13 flight director.

"Failure is not an option."

The candidates have been thrown in at the deep end,

but that's exactly what life as an astronaut entails.

As well as being highly trained in a broad range of disciplines,

they need fundamental attributes

like fitness, both mental and physical.

We want people that, when they leave Earth

and are on board a spaceship,

have a very low probability of developing a medical

problem that will make them come home.

You're a long way from a hospital or a doctor up there.

The next test the candidates face

will help find out who is in the best physical shape.

Being an astronaut places extreme

demands on the human body and you need

to be in the peak of your physical fitness.

This test today is called the beep test.

It's disarmingly simple, but it

gives us an excellent overview of your state of health.

Used by the police and the Armed Forces,

as well as the Canadian space agency,

the beep test helps assess the fitness levels of new recruits.

This is genuinely a test to exhaustion.

You will all at the end be in bits.

Are you ready? Here we go.

When they hear a beep,

the candidates must run between two

lines 20 metres apart before they hear the next beep.

As the test goes on, the interval between beeps gets shorter,

forcing them to run faster.

You can see the people who done this before. Look at Kerry.

She knows that this is the easy bit.

She's not burning herself out, whereas Merritt is thrashing it away

and I don't think she's done this test before.

This is a test that they'll all fail at.

It goes from one to level 22 and none of them is going to get all the

way through and to give you an idea,

Sebastian Coe,

during his Olympic career, got to level 17.

-Derreck is looking not happy.

-Yeah.

You're out, Prash.

The first to stop is 47-year-old urological surgeon Prash.

I was awful.

That was a hard test. If I have to drop, I have to drop.

I know what my limits are. It's better to be honest.

29-year-old Merritt only manages one more length.

That was really tough for me.

I mean, the last time I ran was to try to catch the bus or the plane.

Like, sprinting isn't part of my regime.

Merritt has combined studying physics at both Harvard and Oxford

universities with performing as a professional ballerina.

There are months where I'm focused on physics,

so it'll be 20 hours a day in the lab.

Like, I literally have my electric

blanket there and my face wash and my toothbrush.

And then the next month I'll dancing with, say,

English National Ballet,

you know, just be focused on the dance.

Second youngest candidate Derreck stops at level seven.

Derreck, that's it for you.

Kerry makes it to level eight.

Guys, level nine.

And GB athlete James H

and school teacher James A go one further.

By level ten,

52-year-old Hannah is up against space scientist Suzie

and aerospace engineer Vijay...

..both more than 17 years her junior.

I'm realistic that I may not be a spring chicken out there, but I have

worked hard and I have achieved some extraordinary things.

Last three, guys. Keep going.

Good effort, James.

In 2007,

Hannah became the first

Northern Irish woman to successfully summit Mount Everest.

But it wasn't her first attempt.

In 2003, I was climbing knowing that

I had frostbitten feet and frostbitten

hands and I went, "If I lose toes, fine.

"If I lose my hands," I thought, "I'll not do dentistry,

"I'll retrain to be a pharmacist."

And then I realised that it wasn't just my life that I was putting at

stake, it was my climbing buddies'.

Unfortunately, I had to turn around about 100 metres from the summit.

-OK, come on.

-Come on, Vijay.

Use the arms. Use your arms.

I won't give up easily.

-That's it, Vijay.

-Go on, Vijay.

-Damn.

Hannah and Suzie both finally stop at level ten.

-That's it, Vijay.

-Go on.

Sprint this last one!

-Come on.

-Go on, pump those arms, Vijay.

-Well done!

Vijay, also a mountaineer, is the last man standing.

Both Hannah and Suzie were really worrying me.

I'm really surprised I was first,

-but it feels great.

-You need a way of separating out the candidates and

looking at their strengths and weaknesses,

and although you don't need to

be an Olympic athlete to get into the astronaut corps,

you do need a good baseline level of fitness,

so we're going to have to keep our eye on the people

who finished at the bottom.

The candidates have been put through an exhausting physical test.

But there is no time to recover.

Next under the microscope, their mental acuity.

Space flight is demanding.

Spaceships are complex and the environment outside

the spaceship is deadly.

You need someone who is physically ready,

but also who has a really active mind,

who can understand complicated things,

remember key pieces of information.

-Hello, Jackie.

-Hello.

-How are you?

-I'm good, thank you.

This test is a measure of your ability

to think and remember complex things under pressure.

This test is to push people right to the limit of that.

It's based on a test used by the European Space Agency

and becomes progressively harder, until every candidate fails.

You will hear a series of number sequences.

You must exactly repeat them, but in reverse order.

So if you hear five, two, three, you'll say

-three, two, five.

-OK.

You must do this while stepping on and off the platform.

-OK.

-When you answer incorrectly, a buzzer will sound.

Then, the test is over.

-You ready?

-Yes.

-Here we go.

Four, nine, one, zero.

Zero, one, nine, four.

Three, one, eight, two.

-WHISPERS:

-Three, one, eight, two. Three, one, eight, two.

Two, eight, one, three.

Six, nine,

seven, eight.

Eight, seven, nine, six.

All the candidates managed four numbers.

You ready for the next one?

Five, seven, eight,

zero, six.

The average adult can remember up to five numbers backwards...

Six, zero, eight, seven, five.

..but everyone in this group has at least a Masters degree.

Four, two, three, one, nine.

Nine, one, three, two, four.

Five, seven, eight, zero, six.

Six, zero,

eight, seven,

five.

To make the test harder, Chris has added the step as a distraction.

Five, seven,

eight, zero, six.

-WHISPERS:

-Five, seven, eight, zero, six.

You're never doing nothing in space! There's always something going on.

You're always working on something or flying the ship

or dealing with something.

During this test, we're not just seeing how well they can think,

but how well can they think

while they're moving and doing something else?

Six, zero, five...

Oh!

Sorry. No. Lost it.

BUZZER

The test is over.

Six, zero, seven,

eight, five.

BUZZER

The test is over.

Nine of the candidates are now through to the six-number stage.

Five, one, three,

seven, two, eight.

Eight, two,

seven, three,

one, five.

Five, one,

three, seven,

two, eight.

Eight...two...

..three...

..one...

..seven...

..five.

BUZZER

The test is over.

Only half of the candidates manage to recall six numbers.

That's the end of the test.

It was at this stage of his astronaut selection

that Dr Kevin Fong was asked to leave the process.

The thing that

sticks out in my mind is the voice of the person

who was reading those numbers in a very heavy German accent.

You will now hear a series of number sequences.

And that, kind of, just somehow added to the terror

and the panic of the whole thing, as these numbers, sort of,

came out of thin air at you. It was a really awful test.

I obviously didn't do well enough

to get further through the selection.

The remaining six candidates

now have to recall seven numbers backwards.

Five, seven, four, nine,

six, eight, one.

I'm an enormous geek. I used to take it as an insult

being called a geek in high school,

but now, I think you should wear it with pride.

It just means you are super-interested in something.

One, eight,

six, four, seven, five.

BUZZER

The test is over.

Four, six, zero,

nine, three, seven, five.

I've always been tough and I've always been a gifted mathematician.

I haven't failed at anything.

I've been quite lucky

in the past that I've stood out

and I'm nervous, but in this process,

I'm not going to be

the person who stands out.

Five, seven...

..six, nine,

zero, three, four.

BUZZER

-That completes the test.

-OK.

Thank you.

Four, six,

zero, nine,

three, seven, five.

Five, seven, three...

..eight, zero...

..five, eight.

BUZZER

That's the end of the test.

Four, six,

zero, nine,

three, seven, five.

Five...seven, three

nine, zero...

..six, four.

Kerry is one of only three female pilots

in her squadron of 60.

The more challenges we have,

the more you realise I'm always up there.

Even if I'm not at the top, somewhere near middle to top,

which is exactly where I want to be.

Four, six,

zero, nine,

three, seven, five.

Five, seven...

..three...

..nine, zero, six, four.

This is Derreck's first strong performance.

He's one of just four candidates to reach seven numbers.

Two, zero, eight, one,

three, eight, nine.

But no-one...

BUZZER

..makes it as far as eight.

BUZZER

Oh!

-The test is over.

-Thank you.

Getting through astronaut selection is incredibly tough.

Are you OK?

You are thrown into a room with dozens of people

who have got CVs that are at least as good,

if not much, much better, than yours.

You are competing with people who want the same thing that you want

and they want it as badly as you want it.

It's an intimidating process.

SHE SIGHS

Jackie, can I get you some tissues or something?

I should have definitely done better.

It's bad.

I know I can do it.

A lot longer number sequences than that.

I know I can do that.

That's what's frustrating.

With their mental agility assessed,

the next fundamental attribute to be analysed

is psychological resilience.

Every astronaut on the International Space Station today

has undergone extensive personality testing.

-But this wasn't always the case.

-In the early days,

we could afford to hire astronauts that were real hard asses.

Uncompromising, miserable people to deal with,

because we needed a spaceship flown properly.

And there was some real serious conflicts.

There were crew members having fistfights in orbit.

But we realised that if we are truly going to live in space

and not just quickly visit there,

the psychological and interpersonal part

becomes much more important.

Dr Iya Whiteley has developed

psychological tools for the European Space Agency's

long duration space flight missions.

-Hi.

-Have a seat. Hi.

-Hi.

Please sit up just a little bit closer.

OK, there we go.

She will evaluate each candidate's suitability for life in space.

I want to understand

what goes through their mind, what kind of information they process,

to see whether their skills are transferable into the

extreme environments that they will be working in.

So, tell me what you're good at.

I'm good at being incredibly persistent and I don't give up.

-I'll audition 23 times in a year...

-OK, yeah.

..again and again for a ballet company and get rejected,

you know, and I never give up. I will just do it again.

I think I'm good at talking about things that I'm interested in...

-OK.

-..in an enthusiastic way

-and getting other people interested in them, too.

-OK.

People who are very open and enjoy what they are doing,

they are just natural at it.

That is what I am trying to look for.

I am a good friend and I am somebody who is proud to mentor people,

to help people and to encourage people.

Tell me what you're good at.

What I'm good at.

Making people laugh, I think.

Or just having fun with people.

It is one of my best traits, I hope.

Um...

When people hear a question, they have to pause before they respond

and, in that instant, you see a lot from

micro-expressions, that are telling.

Every little detail gives me a clue

into who they are and what they are likely

to be as an astronaut.

Can you tell me about the biggest mistake

that you have made in your life?

CHUCKLING

The biggest mistake I have made.

I've made lots of mistakes.

My biggest mistake.

Gosh, I have made a lot of mistakes in training,

-but that is, kind of, what the training is there for.

-Mm-hm.

VOICEOVER: There is no such thing as a perfect pilot.

If there is something that I cannot do very well

or if it, kind of, completely stumps me,

it is all just learning, to make me a better person,

give me more knowledge about myself.

Mistake.

Sorry, I can't go there.

-I was just going to say, like, thank my mom more..

-Mm-hm.

..would have been my thing,

-before she passed away.

-Mm.

Yeah. Or just asked her a couple more...life questions.

-Sorry.

-It's OK.

The best candidates are true to themselves.

People who understand themselves will succeed,

and those who try to tell me

what they think I want to hear will probably not succeed.

I learn from my mistakes.

I do not allow them to go on so big

that it will be the most drastic thing which will ever happen to me

-and will be game changing.

-OK.

Now, give me an example of an event where you felt most anger.

Anything that we do to harm the Earth,

I think I get quite upset about that.

-And especially as a geologist, it doesn't sit right with me.

-OK.

One area where...I do feel angry

about things, it is about people,

when they expect everything to be spoon-fed.

If you repeatedly do those kind of things,

they will know what Prash wants.

They will work out how I do my business.

I am a cancer urological surgeon, and if I am in charge

and if my name is at the end of the bed,

then it is my way or the highway,

because my interests lie

in the best outcome for the task which I am doing.

It doesn't matter what a candidate tells me.

I actually see beyond the words.

Their self-awareness, or lack of it,

gives me an insight into how well they will do in the future.

The candidates have undergone two days of rigorous testing.

They are being judged against Space Agency standards

and have no idea how they've performed so far.

In life, you are used to being told how you have done

and moving on to the next thing armed with that knowledge.

But in astronaut selection, no-one is patting you on the back

-and encouraging you on.

-We have done four tests already.

I think they're watching us even when we don't know

they're watching us. So, it is always a test.

It is very difficult to judge, because if you are doing a race,

if you are doing something else, it is finite, you're over the line,

you know where you stand with the people behind you.

But there are so many uncertainties in this.

The panel now has an insight into who lacks the fundamental qualities

-they have been testing.

-I think, just on our raw rankings,

the lowest of the 12 so far has been Prash and, then, just above him,

-is Merritt.

-Yeah, I think that's about right.

Is there anyone else in the group

who gives us cause for concern at this time?

I don't know if I'm going to be sent home or not.

The reason is that we don't know what to expect

or what to prepare for.

Do we think, at this point, of the 12 people,

has he shown himself to be

not having the right stuff?

When I start asking, sort of, questions and getting into detail,

I felt like some of the answers were contradicting the one before.

The fundamental question is,

are these people that you would want to fly in space with?

I think I still have the right stuff.

Very much, I have some more reserves. It just needs be explored.

That is not a terrible performance, but I expected more of her.

I just don't know how many people they are going to be letting go

and I hope that I have shown that there is something in me, you know,

that I haven't given everything that I have got.

-Hello, Prash.

-Good evening, Chris.

-How are you? Hello, again.

So this stage, we have completed four tests.

Quite broad testing in the helicopter, psychological,

memory and cardiovascular beep test.

And the bottom line is, in those four tests,

your scores were at the bottom of those 12 on three of the four.

-Mm-hm.

-So, your astronaut selection process ends here.

If I can paraphrase Gene Kranz, it has been a successful failure.

Thank you very much.

I don't think I could have done anything differently.

I have performed, behaved...

..said everything what I am.

I am amongst people who have PhDs

and have run marathons and have climbed Everest.

These are terrific achievements.

Here I am - I have made it into that elite group.

To have made it to this level has been a great experience.

Someone with the skill set of Prash is already going home.

For the other candidates, I think this is a sudden,

stark reminder that this is a selection process

and the bar is really high.

We will meet again.

-Yes.

-On the ISS. I will be waiting for you.

LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE

See you, guys. Take care.

It's sad that one of us

has gone and, like, it is really sad.

And reality has hit now.

It was unexpected for Prash. I feel bad.

I'm pleased not to be the first to go,

but it could be any of us any day.

The biggest day in an astronaut's life is the day you leave Earth.

Now, you are actually qualified to be called an astronaut.

You float to the window...

the whole world is going by and the speed

is so high it is like nothing you've ever experienced in your life.

You go around the world in 92 minutes.

You get a sunrise or a sunset every 46.

It's like a present that is unwrapping itself at the window

the whole time.

But astronauts have an enormous workload in space,

performing hundreds of experiments, many on themselves.

Got my butterfly needle, then two blood tubes.

So, not too much this morning.

Followed by some gauze and a Band-Aid.

So today, the panel will test whether the candidates

have the skills, coupled with the right mental attitude,

to do the same.

If we're going to explore space with people,

we need to also explore the human condition in space.

And part of that involves taking blood.

Instructors Alison Purkiss and Emily Watson will teach them.

Take the needle off, place it into the holder, take your first bottle.

Push on.

First, using synthetic pads fitted with artificial veins and blood.

Take your index finger,

place it underneath the holder and gently ease it off.

They will then take blood from their own arms.

Actually, today, to be honest,

I actually have a little bit of a fear of needles.

I've never really had much contact with blood.

It wouldn't be something I'd rush to. I'm a bit like...

I would say I'm a bit squeamish.

Kevin is also assessing their attitude towards the risks involved

in experimenting on themselves, and whether they can keep focused.

Like everything else they do, it's a multi-step.

It is a pretty complicated task

and they have to get everything in order for it to go right.

And there is safety at risk here.

Sounds like a packet of crisps.

There is a set of instructions on that packet.

-There are.

-Let's follow the instructions, shall we?

LAUGHTER

Whether it is in the workplace or anything else,

I just know that I enjoy having fun.

Cos if you can't have a good time, can't have fun, what's the point?

So, Doctor Vijay, wedding preparations going OK?

-Yes, really well, thank you.

-Fantastic.

OK, seems like you are running out of blood.

-That's fine.

-Hope you are still alive in there.

So Derreck and Vijay have got a bit of a comedy double act

going on there,

but actually, if life as an astronaut is anything,

it is a series of procedural tasks.

You have to get the right things done in the right order,

otherwise it all goes wrong. So, you know, that's not great.

Sorry.

You can feel it when it's right.

Oh, yeah, yeah, I felt that.

Stop there.

Practice is over.

It's time for the candidates to draw blood for real.

-Sorry, Tim, can I stop you there?

-Yeah.

Can you see how it's coming up?

-Yeah.

-It's coming up in a big bruise.

Did I go too far into the vein?

You have either touched the top of the vein

-or you actually went through, one of the two.

-OK.

So what will have happened,

it would have pooled out underneath or on the top.

If we had stayed in there, you'd have just made it bigger.

Next, it's Merritt's turn.

After poor performances in two of the tests, the pressure's on.

Can you feel that in there?

-Oh, that's great. Yeah, I can feel it.

-Can you feel it?

-Yeah.

-Your veins are really small.

-Yeah.

If they have found the correct vein,

it should feel springy when they tap it.

-You feel it?

-Yeah.

-You sure?

Can't see it, but I can feel it, yeah.

Having located a vein,

Merritt needs to insert a butterfly needle

designed for small blood vessels.

Because of my experiments in quantum optics, and then before that,

I was in condensed matter, which dealt with, like,

nanometre precision,

I think the skillsets I learned with experiments

does play to my strengths.

Great work.

Nice one, Merritt.

Good job.

This was a task that she understood in a bunch of sequential steps

and performed them very well.

You mentioned Derreck and Vijay as having a good time

but being unmethodical.

I think they don't appreciate that if, in a complex setting,

you fail to follow the steps as given one after another

exactly as demonstrated, it is going to trip you up down the line,

and that's what I saw with them today.

When I look at the numbers for Derreck, for the memory test,

he did well, he was high,

but for the helicopter test, low, for the bleep test, low.

I feel that Derreck just needs that... a little bit of growing up.

Right.

Derreck.

Chris.

When we look at what you have done so far,

it really comes down to relative ranking

with how your performance is versus the others.

And the reality is that your scores have not been high.

Unfortunately, your astronaut selection ends today.

OK. Well, thank you very much, Chris, for the opportunity.

Thanks.

In his interaction with other people...

..we see an inexperience.

I think he has tremendous potential,

but I just haven't seen it to this point.

Yeah, I didn't make the cut, fellas.

-No!

-No.

What?

It happens.

Anyway...

I'm feeling gutted,

gutted I was unable to perform as well as I would have hoped I would.

I still think I've got the right stuff to become an astronaut.

I just need more time to get myself ready for it.

Clearly my helicopter skills didn't go unnoticed.

The astronaut candidates have been through

three days of continual assessments,

but they can't rest.

There is one more test today.

Normally, six astronauts

live in the confined conditions of the International Space Station

for months at a time.

Even when outside,

they're enclosed in the airtight shell of their spacesuits.

Come on in. Just head over here to the left.

So being able to cope with small spaces is essential.

When I went through astronaut selection with Nasa,

I walked into a small room, it was kind of dark,

there was this big beach ball on the floor,

and there was a technician there who said, "Get into the beach ball.

"We are going to zip it up, and after a while,

"we are going to let you out again. And don't fall asleep."

And I didn't know what I was really being tested on.

Today's final assessment is designed to reveal

something that would disqualify any astronaut -

claustrophobia.

We are going to put each of you inside your own sphere.

For one candidate, this will be particularly tough.

I got caught in an avalanche years ago,

-so I have to get caught in that...

-You got caught in an avalanche?

-Yeah.

-Wow.

-So I just have a bit of...

-How long?

Felt like an eternity.

Whenever I start thinking about it, the memory's still very vivid.

I flash back very quickly.

I heard a crack, a slab just came down, hit me in the chest...

Just was spiralling and then the snow just covered me.

I honestly don't know how long I was under the snow.

I remember getting my hands over my face...

and trying to push the snow off.

I was completely encased in this...

I remember shouting and I went, "Oh, I can't shout,"

cos there was nothing... I just remember going...

"Don't want to die."

The candidates are all wearing heart-rate monitors

so the panel can assess their stress levels.

OK, candidates. The time starts when the lights go out.

At the start of the test,

Hannah's heart rate is almost double its normal resting rate.

You must not speak.

Be silent throughout the rest of the test.

As well as proving they can cope with confined conditions,

Chris has told the candidates to stay inside their spheres

for exactly 20 minutes.

Without watches, they need to estimate

how quickly time is passing.

And that's not all.

While the candidates are locked in these spheres,

we have asked them to completely lace up their boots in the darkness,

give them a sort of a manual distracting task.

When you're outside on a spacewalk, or really engrossed in a task,

it is sometimes sort of easy to lose track of time.

But if you are breathing on a confined oxygen system,

you have to have that natural sense of how time is passing.

Chris and Iya are also using infrared cameras

to see if the candidates show any visible signs of distress.

15 minutes in,

Hannah's managed to bring her heart rate down

closer to her resting rate.

20 minutes is nearly up, and they are still all in their spheres.

Jackie is the first out at 18 minutes.

When I came out and realised I was the only person,

I was like, "Hmm, OK, I think I've counted a bit fast."

She is followed by Merritt at just over 19 minutes,

making her the closest to estimating 20 minutes passing.

I understand now that whatever task is thrown at me

is completely something that I could never have imagined.

I feel mentally like I am just

getting stronger and stronger with each one.

20 minutes has passed.

James H comes out one minute over.

Followed by Kerry two minutes later.

Hannah remains in her sphere for 23.5 minutes,

the same as Tim.

But James A and Vijay have lost all track of time.

Welcome back to the world.

Space flight is a strangely separated experience.

Maybe you sensed a little bit of that today

with the isolation of the spheres.

Thank you, everybody.

-ALL:

-Thank you.

Hannah did fine, controlled herself well,

but revealed just how close a personal experience it was to her.

Her heart rate was up, but then she, through her own discipline,

controlled it and had it down to the level

that most people would just try and get their heart

under any circumstances.

I think it really showed a measure of experience and self-discipline

that is admirable and rare.

Before I came here, I was getting back into tight sleeping bags

and putting myself into situations where I would be uncomfortable

because I knew I would have to deal with it.

I never expected it to be easy.

It is one of the toughest jobs in the world.

But that's what we're here for.

Ten candidates have shown they have the physical,

mental and psychological capabilities

to get through the fundamental tests

of astronaut selection.

But they have only just begun.

The candidates' world is turned upside down...

My idea of hell.

..as the process moves up a level.

You are going to be operating a robot on Mars.

It only gets tougher from here, doesn't it?