Nicola Winter (née Baumann; born 10 March 1985) is a German reserve astronaut and former fighter pilot. Winter became the second female fighter pilot in the history of the German Air Force in 2007 flying both Tornado and Eurofighter Typhoon in the German Air Force. In 2017, she was selected as an astronaut candidate for the private spaceflight organisation Die Astronautin, which aims to send the first German woman into space, but later withdrew from the programme. In 2022, she was named a reserve astronaut in the European Astronaut Corps.
Nicola Winter | |
|---|---|
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| Born | 10 March 1985 Munich, West Germany |
| Allegiance |  Germany |
| Years of service | 2004–2018 |
| Rank | Major[1] |
| Space career | |
| ESA Astronaut | |
| Selection | 2022 ESA Group |
Air force service edit
Nicola Winter's mother flew hang gliders, and her younger sister Nena is a pilot with Lufthansa. In 2004, she joined the German Air Force, attending a one-year school focusing on officer training. She then spent a year in academics to prepare for pilot training set up for 53 weeks at the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training program (ENJJPT) at Sheppard Air Force Base and qualified in 2007. At the end of the training cycle, Winter was assigned to the 322nd Squadron in Bavaria, flying Tornados with Major Ulrike Flender, Germany's first female fighter pilot. Flender graduated pilot training about 10 months ahead of Winter, also at ENJJPT. Winter became an instructor pilot at ENJJPT with the 459th Flying Training Squadron in 2012,[2] and completed her flying training as a Eurofighter Typhoon pilot in 2015.[3] She took leave from the armed forces in 2018 to work in management consulting.[4]
Private astronaut candidate edit
In 2016, the privately funded spaceflight programme Die Astronautin announced it would be taking applicants for the first female German astronaut. All of eleven Germans who have so far voyaged into outer space were men. As a fighter pilot, Winter applied to be Germany's first female astronaut among 86 candidates on the list as of September 2016[5] and was one of 30 women taking part in the final selection process as of December 2016.[6] She was selected as one of two winners,[7] but later withdrew from the programme.[8]
Astronaut career edit
Winter was selected as a reserve astronaut in the 2022 European Space Agency Astronaut Group.[9]
References edit
- ^ Vooren, Christian (19 April 2017). "Zwei Frauen - dem Ziel ihrer Träume so nah". Der Tagesspiegel (in German). Berlin: Verlag Der Tagesspiegel GmbH. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
Für das Bewerbungsverfahren war die Erfahrung für Baumann, Dienstrang Major, ein Vorteil.
- ^ Hawkins, Dan (28 March 2012). "Dreaming big earns German pilot distinction in her own right". Sheppard Air Force Base.
- ^ "ACADEMIC-Lehrgang I/2015". Laage Online – die Onlinezeitung für die Region Laage (in German). 5 March 2015.
- ^ "Sie hätte ins Weltall fliegen können Ausgeflogen: Nicola Baumann kündigt als Pilotin". Express (in German). 17 May 2018. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
- ^ Laszczak, Claudia (23 November 2016). "A female astronaut for Germany?". Deutsche Welle.
- ^ "Germany's first female astronaut?". Deutsche Welle. 16 December 2016.
- ^ "English Version – Die Astronautin". dieastronautin.de. Archived from the original on 30 December 2016.
- ^ "Astronomer replaces fighter pilot in private bid to be first German woman in space". collectSPACE. 16 February 2018.
- ^ "Nicola Winter". esa.int. Retrieved 28 December 2022.