When I was a child in the village of Sankt Wendel where I was born, in the German state of Saarland, and I saw astronauts going into space on television, I considered them more as “superhumans” than as an example that I would like to follow, as I said earlier for a while in an interview. Did the dream of becoming an astronaut only come later?
Yes, I come from an area where there are many villages and no big cities, so it is good for pilots to do test flights. It is close to the largest American military base outside the USA, Ramstein. So there were always planes passing by and I really wanted to be a pilot. I never dreamed of being an astronaut, because it was something so far away that I thought they were superhuman.
But the dream ended up happening… After having a career as a materials scientist.
It was an adult’s dream. I am a materials scientist. It’s an important area. If you look at innovation, 70% comes from a new material. For example, if you have a better cell phone today it’s because there’s a better battery inside, and better batteries require better materials to store energy. The same goes for faster, more efficient cars.
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