You might expect it to be a search for mankind’s finest specimens – young paragons of intelligence, courage, fitness and endurance who could one day be on a flight to Mars. But when European space chiefs begin sifting thousands of applications in a search for four new astronauts, they will not be interested in the kind of daredevil who pioneered space exploration.

Instead they will be looking for scientists and engineers who display “team competence, empathy and emotional stability”. The European Space Agency wants astronerds rather than astronauts.

“We are not interested in the Right Stuff; we want the right staff,” a spokesman said.

The long and collaborative nature of today’s space missions means that the ideal candidates will be men or women with a science degree and a smattering of Russian and be more of a team player than the adventurers of early space flight.

The search for the new astronauts, and four reserves, to replenish Europe’s ageing starforce sounds like the ultimate reality television contest. Selection from an expected 50,000 applicants will take at least a year and include physical and psychological tests. That will lead to 18 months of basic training, followed by two years of advanced training and, only then, possibly, a space mission.

Gerhard Thiele, head of the agency’s astronauts division, said that the image of recklessly brave young men popularised by Tom Wolfe’s book The Right Stuff no longer applied. “What we are looking for is people able to work in a team. In a crisis situation you have to work together,” he said.

Michel Tognini, a former astronaut and head of the European Astronaut Centre in Cologne, where the recruits will train, said: “It is time for ESA to seek out new talent to bolster its astronaut corps for future manned missions to the International Space Station, the Moon and beyond. We want to find high-calibre men and women in Europe to prepare to meet the challenges of human exploration of our solar system in the 21st century.”

British candidates are welcome but there are doubts over whether they would be funded by the Government, which supports only the space agency’s cheaper robotic missions. But budding spacemen and women can still dream. A spokesman for the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills said: “We have announced a review of whether we continue to focus on robotic space flight or whether we switch and fund human space flight. We will be reporting later this year.”

The European astronaut corps now consists of eight men from six countries aged 43 to 56. The space agency wants an injection of younger talent, aged 27 to 37 and drawn from its 17 member nations.

They must be medically fit and competent in physics, chemistry, medicine or engineering. Experience as a pilot is a definite advantage. Other characteristics listed by the agency include “a good memory and reasoning ability, concentration, manual dexterity, high motivation, flexibility, team competence, empathy and emotional stability”. The most common reason for the failure of well-qualified candidates is poor eyesight.

Britain has produced four astronauts but none through the European Space Agency. Three men have trained with Nasa, the American space agency, including Michael Foale, who made four shuttle missions.

Britain’s first space traveller, Helen Sharman, was chosen by a private British consortium from 13,000 candidates to fly with the Soviet Soyuz craft in 1991. Ms Sharman was later considered for the European Space Agency but was not selected.

The main role of euronauts will be working on the International Space Station, which is why learning Russian will be part of the training. But there are long-term ambitions for missions much farther afield.

“Europe has long been involved in exploration, even before the days of Christopher Columbus,” said Daniel Sacotte, director of the agency’s human space flight, microgravity and exploration. “After exploring the Earth, space is the logical next step.”

Life in orbit: a user’s guide

—- Astronauts now eat full meals reconstituted with hot water, not freeze-dried cubes. They need less iron than normal as they have fewer red blood cells

— To use the lavatory, they position themselves on the seat using leg restraints and thigh bars. Each astronaut has a urinal funnel attached to a tube that sucks away urine

— They take sponge baths and use a shampoo that does not need water to be rinsed away

— Eight hours of sleep are scheduled per night but the Sun rises every 90 minutes during a mission

— All water, including vapour from breath and sweat, is recycled

— British astronauts include Michael Foale, who has spent 374 days in space, including four space walks, and Helen Sharman, who spent eight days in space as the British member of the Russian scientific space mission Project Juno

Sources: Nasa, Times database

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