3 aspiring Pinoy astronauts now at Kennedy Space Center

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine representatives to the international space training challenge at the AXE Apollo Space Academy (AASA) in Florida, USA are reportedly doing well, AXE Philippines brand manager Gem Laforteza said yesterday.

Filipino aspiring astronauts – Evan Ray Datuin, Chino Roque, and Ramil Santos – arrived in Orlando, Florida on Dec. 1 and joined contingents from 60 other countries for a briefing at the Rocket Garden.

The team started their actual space camp training by taking the LYNX Space Academy(r) tests at the Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday.

“We are very proud of Evan, Chino and Ramil for their outstanding performance at the AXE Apollo Space Academy training mission. They displayed utmost bravery, team spirit and enthusiasm required of astronauts today,” Laforteza said.

“Definitely, one of them will become the first Filipino astronaut as we are guaranteed a slot in AXE’s historic flight to space,” he added.

Santos and his pilot-trainer boarded an SIAI Marchetti SF260 plane for the air combat maneuver, including parabolic and spiral moves, multiple G-pulling and high and low yo-yos.

Santos’ trainer was reportedly impressed by his enthusiasm and the way he handled himself during the flight.

For the next two days, Santos will undergo the LYNX Space Academy(r) zero gravity training in a Boeing 727 that will give him the experience of being in space and the pressure of four times the force of gravity.

The Philippine AXE Apollo Team met with the AXE Apollo Space Academy judges and executives from Space Expedition Corp. whose shuttle will take 22 men and women to space.

The team is ready to face three daunting tasks at the Kennedy Space Center that will determine who among them will become the first Filipino astronaut.

These include tests on zero gravity, fighter jet activity and the G-Force simulator.

Meanwhile, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) is aware of the team’s participation in the space training camp.

DOST assistant secretary Mon Liboro said the agency has yet to start efforts for the country to have its own space program.

Local scientists led by Custer Deocaris are lobbying for the passage of House Bill 6725 or the proposed Philippine Space Act of 2012 filed by the Agham party-list group.

Deocaris said the Philippines should not be left behind in the space studies, noting the benefits it could give to the country.

He said space studies could allow local scientists to pursue efforts that may lead to the Philippines’ launching of its own satellites in space.

Deocaris is coordinating with the Lung Center of the Philippines (LCP) for the establishment of an aerospace medicine center, the first in Southeast Asia.

The plan was announced during the 1st National Technology Forum on Aerospace Medicine and Biology on  Oct. 6.

The proposed Aerodome will be built inside the LCP complex.

Deocaris’ students at the Technological Institute of the Philippines were tasked to design the state-of-the-art facility and to produce the needed equipment.

The facility will initially serve pilots, air and ground crew personnel from the military and civil aviation industry, and researchers in basic and applied space medicine.