Launching a contest to go on a space vacation is the stuff of Total Recall, but the first true iteration of it is coming out of Finland this year. The effort is backed by a consortium of companies that includes the aforementioned Axiom Space. Equal partners include “space media company” Cohu Experience, “new Space” and education company Edge of Space, and Finnish education company Fun Academy.
The year-plus-long contest to recruit a new astronaut is itself a long-term test of brains, brawn and fortitude that begins with the release of a free-to-download app in the fall of 2017. After several months of open competition with brain games and challenges through the app, 130 semi-finalists will be invited for a two-week intensive course at a yet-to-be-chosen location. After that, 12 finalists will face off in a three-month-long battle to win the world’s first astronautical prize. The trip won’t be a vacation, as the winner — be he or she a scientist or not — will be trained to do experiments aboard the International Space Station. From there, one would presume the world is the winner’s oyster and a budding number of career opportunities will come their way.
Full article here