Alex Wilkins is a writer.

John McFall

John McFall is a new person in the space program.

P. Sebirot is a member of the European Space Agency.

The first ever person with a physical disability is one of the new astronauts.

A motorcycle accident at the age of 19 resulted in the amputation of John's right leg. He is a paralympian and a surgeon.

The other astronauts are a pilot from France and an astronomer from the UK.

Half of the astronauts were men and Half were women.

The director-general of the European Space Agency said at a press conference that he was proud that the selection had a good distribution of females.

The astronauts who will enter the reserve are made up of people who made it through the entire selection process, but weren't chosen for full time service

After announcing last year that it would be selecting new astronauts for the first time since 2008, the European Space Agency received more than 22,500 applications from 25 countries, 17 of which were from men and 5 of which were from women

There were 257 applications for the role of astronomer, which was limited to people with lower limb deficiency. A deficiency through the ankle or below the knee was defined as a single or double foot deficiency.

Read more: Who counts as an astronaut? Not Jeff Bezos, say new US rules

The astronauts had to go through a series of tests. The first group of candidates went for a full day of psychological performance testing to see if they could handle the stress of space flight. The group was narrowed down to 400 people who went for more psychological interviews and group tests. If they passed, they were invited to a final round of interviews.

The successful applicants will attend a one-year basic training course at the European Astronaut Centre.

They will be assigned to missions when they finish their training.

The new astronauts could join future moon missions if the Artemis mission goes well.

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