A2_3 Peake Savings: Send Suzie to Space

Abstract

Manned International Space Station (ISS) missions cost the economy hundreds of millions US
Dollars (USD), so astronaut selection processes for such assignments are rigorous and exhaus-
tive. We evaluate cost comparisons of sending the winner of the BBC programme, Astronauts:
Do you have what it takes?", on a six-month ISS mission to the cost of that of Tim Peake's 2015/16 mission. We find that the winner of the programme, Suzie Imber, would make a financial saving of 23 million USD.