Maybe it’s because I turn 45 in a couple of weeks, but I thought now is the right time in life to pursue my childhood ambition to become an astronaut, before it’s too late. I was two years old when the first manned space mission landed on the Moon on July 20, 1969. In November 1967, when I was still wearing nappies, the first successful rocket capable of sending a mission to land on the Moon (Saturn V) was launched.

Lucky for me there hasn’t been much progress in the past 44 years in terms of extending man’s extraterrestrial travel capability.