European Space Agency seeks diversity in new astronaut drive

PARIS (AP) — The European Space Agency is holding its first recruitment drive in 11 years and is highlighting a desire for greater diversity. The European equivalent of NASA is seeking to recruit more women astronauts this year, as well as people with disabilities who have always dreamed of going into space. The agency’s director general said Tuesday that the agency needs to “look wider than we have before” to find those “excellent astronauts for the future” as its focus shifts on missions to the moon and Mars. He said: “To go farther than we ever have before, we need to look wider than we ever have before.”