An astronaut is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally reserved for professional space travelers, the term is sometimes applied to anyone who travels into space, including scientists, politicians, journalists, and tourists.
Ulf Dietrich Merbold is a German physicist and astronaut who flew to space three times, becoming the first West German citizen in space and the first non-American to fly on a NASA spacecraft. Merbold flew on two Space Shuttle missions and on a Russian mission to the space station Mir, spending a total of 49 days in space.
Ulrich Hans Walter is a German physicist, engineer and former DFVLR astronaut.
Gerhard Paul Julius Thiele is a German physicist and a former ESA astronaut. He is the father of Die Astronautin candidate Insa Thiele-Eich.
The European Astronaut Corps is a unit of the European Space Agency (ESA) that selects, trains, and provides astronauts as crew members on U.S. and Russian space missions. The corps has 13 active members, able to serve on the International Space Station (ISS). The European Astronaut Corps is based at the European Astronaut Centre in Cologne, Germany. They can be assigned to various projects both in Europe or elsewhere in the world, at NASA Johnson Space Center or Star City.
Hoimar von Ditfurth was a German physician and scientific journalist. He was the father of Christian von Ditfurth, a historian, and Jutta Ditfurth, a writer and journalist.
Gisela Forster is a German writer, teacher, and Catholic theologian.
Heike John is a German retired swimmer and former astronaut candidate.
Women have flown and worked in outer space since almost the beginning of human spaceflight. A considerable number of women from a range of countries have worked in space, though overall women are still significantly less often chosen to go to space than men, and by June, 2020 constitute only 12% of all astronauts who have been to space. Yet, the proportion of women among space travelers is increasing substantially over time.
Nicola Winter 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.
Molitor & Kuzmin are a collaborative duo of visual artists, who are classified as light art and installation artists.
Jamie Bick is a German actress.
Achim Zeman is a German painter and installation artist. He is known for his extensive spatial installations that stretch across walls and floors and challenge our perception: "Verunsicherung der Betrachterposition, Irritation des Raumgefühls, Desorientierung – all das sind mögliche Umschreibungen für die Wirkung, die Achim Zeman mit seinen installativen Arbeiten erzielt.“ The space altered by Zeman's painterly interventions not only reflects the increasing insecurity experienced by society in recent years, but also enables viewers - precisely because the irritation is caused by artistic, aesthetic means - to engage with it in the first place and to experience uncertainty and changes in perspective not as threatening, but as inspiring.
Rita Rohlfing is a German painter, photographer and installation artist.
Johanna Maislinger is an Austrian aviator and engineer, currently employed by the German cargo carrier AeroLogic. Since 2010 she has flown Boeing 777-200F cargo jets, initially as a First Officer, as a Senior First Officer from 2011 and as a Captain since 2018. She achieved media prominence in 2018-2020 when she claimed to have secured financial and logistical backing to become a space tourist, on Soyuz MS-20, though she did not gain a seat on the mission. The Soyuz MS-20 mission launched 8 December 2021 without her on board.
Die Astronautin is a private German human spaceflight program with the goal of sending the first German woman into space by 2023 via a short-duration flight to the International Space Station. The program was launched by a German private initiative in March 2016, when it sent out a call for German women to apply for a mission to the ISS. The flight will be mainly funded by donors and voluntary financial aid and so far has not received any funding from the German government.
Insa Thiele-Eich is a German meteorologist and astronaut candidate, selected by the German non-government Die Astronautin project in April 2017. She was one of two women selected to be the first German woman in space, the end goal of the Die Astronautin initiative.
Amelie Karin Josephine Schoenenwald is a German biologist and reserve astronaut. After studying at the Technical University of Munich from 2009 to 2015, Schoenenwald earned a PhD in integrative structural biology at the Medical University of Vienna in 2020. She was chosen as a reserve astronaut in the European Astronaut Corps in 2022. By the time of her selection, she had worked in industry for a few years.
