Broad horizons

Frank de Winne, a European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut, is committed to research and to finding simple solutions for complex situations. As a member of the SESAR Scientific Committee, he actively supported the SJU in defining research themes for its innovative and long term research programme. Mr de Winne returned in December 2009 from a six months mission to the International Space Station. During this flight De Winne became the first European and the first non-American and non-Russian Commander of the ISS. After his long-term spaceflight, Frank De Winne is still performing several mission related tasks which include post-flight rehabilitation, debriefings and outreach activities.

1. Mr De Winne, as an astronaut and long-time member of ESA, why did you decide to join the SESAR JU Scientific Committee?

SESAR is an interesting project which will enhance the competitiveness of the European industry and which fosters international cooperation. I am generally interested in everything that brings Europe to the forefront. Additionally, as a former Air Force pilot, I was an “ATM customer” and therefore know the life of air traffic controllers a bit. New procedures and technologies can make their work only easier and safer.

 
2. The Scientific Committee will deal with different research themes – ‘Legal aspects of paradigm shift’, “Towards higher levels of automation in ATM’, ‘Mastering complex systems safely’, ‘Economics and performance’. Which of the four areas are you mostly interested in?

Probably due to my experience as an astronaut, I am mostly interested in finding simple but safe solutions to complex solutions. I have seen in my career that solutions for the same problems developed in Russia, Europe, Japan or the US can sometimes differ greatly. Mostly, it is the simple solution that does the trick. At the same time, systems – especially in the case of SESAR – need to guarantee performance.