Remember earlier this year that I posted regarding Axe Apollo's search for astronauts, well this is the culminating part of it as they unveiled who were the lucky Pinoy who pushed through to be the first ever Pinoy Astronaut.  

The Philippines was among the top countries that participated in the global campaign with over 28,000 applications for the opportunity to become the first Filipino to ever go to space. From thousands, three candidates were selected to represent the country at the international AXE Apollo Space Camp held at the Kennedy Space Center in the U.S. The three candidates underwent astronaut training with over 100 others from all over the globe. Finally, one has been chosen to take to space by 2015 as the first Filipino astronaut.

After five days of grueling tests and challenges at the AXE Apollo Space Academy Space Camp, 22-year old Crossfit trainer and De La Salle University psychology graduate Chino Roque was declared the first Filipino astronaut by no less than legendary Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin. The ceremonies were held at the Kennedy Space Center Rocket Garden.

Chino Roque has emerged as the first Filipino astronaut in  the AXE Apollo Space Academy (AASA) Space Camp  at the Kennedy Space Center in Orlando, Florida.

“At the awarding ceremonies, when they called my name, all I could think about is how fortunate I am. From the start, this had been the experience of a lifetime. I’m grateful to the team of admirable guys I went to Space Camp with – Ramil and Evan – as well as the support of family, friends, and my countrymen,” said Roque.


Roque was welcomed here in the Philippines and was officially introduced to the media as the First Filipino Astronaut that will go to space in 2015.  The press conference was held at URBAN Bar, Bonifacio Global City.


Roque is set to become the first Filipino astronaut by 2015, joining 23 other AXE Apollo Space Academy winners on a sub-orbital space flight. The AXE Apollo winners are Patrick Carney (USA), Théo Abbaci-Nel (Canada), Marco Gorrasi (Brazil), Oliver Knight (UK), Felix Stach (DACH), Cyril Garnier (France), Jordi Ollebek (Netherlands), Eduardo Luruena (Spain), Róbert Vokál (Slovakia), Denis Efremov (Russia), Halil Kayıkçı (Turkey), Omar Samra (Egypt), Vinay Singh (India), Takanobu Yoneya (Japan), Rizman Adhi Nugraha (Indonesia), Pirada Techavijit (Thailand), Thanh Long Vu (Vietnam), Tim Gibson (Austrailia), Hamish Fagg (New Zealand), Tale Sundlisæter (Norway), Mandlenkosi Maseko (South Africa), Qing Guo (China), and Daniel Angelo “Chino” Roque (Philippines).

Know more about the AXE Apollo Space Camp.

The three Filipino representatives – Evan Rey Datuin, Ramil Santos, and Chino Roque – underwent training at the AXE Apollo Space Academy in Orlando, Florida. They experienced Zero-gravity Parabolic Flights on board a Boeing 727, Air Combat Training on-board an SIAI Marchetti SF260, and Hyper-gravity G Force Training.

The entire Filipino delegation, especially Roque, impressed the AXE and Space Expedition Corporation (SXC) judges with their performance on the challenges. Roque was one of the few who were able to maneuver the plane. All three delegates pushed their bodies to the limit as they took on the incredible pressures of hyper-gravity at four times the force of Earth’s gravity.

The AASA astronauts proudly display their certificates.

AXE Apollo’s Space Camp officially ended with the graduation of all 107 delegates and the awarding of the 24 space flight winners. The graduation ceremony was led by Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin, the chairman of the judging committee. Other members of AXE’s judging committee were XCOR Aerospace COO Andrew Nelson, whose rocket engine company is manufacturing the space craft that will fly the 24 winners to space; Space Expedition Corporation (SXC) CEO Michiel Mol; SXC Test Pilot Mission Control COO Harry Van Hulten; and SXC Director of Commercial Space Marlous Mens.

“AXE Philippines, as I am sure the Filipino people as well, are proud to have had Chino, Evan, and Ramil represent our country at the international AXE Apollo Space Camp. They showed that Filipinos are courageous, determined, and resilient,” says AXE Brand Manager Gem Laforteza.

Leave a man, come back a space hero

“AXE Apollo is about heroes. It’s about setting out to do what seems impossible,” says AXE Apollo Philippines judge Luis Manzano.

“We would like to believe that AXE’s campaign has inspired Filipinos and people everywhere to imagine the unimaginable,” says Laforteza.

Since its launch, AXE has received more than 1 million AXE Apollo Space Academy entries globally with the Philippines ranking 4th in the world and 1st in Asia in terms of applications. The space flights are set in 2015.

AXE Apollo Team Philippines members get ready for intense workouts.

Our AXE Apollo Team Philippines members are all up and ready as they under gone training at Crossfit Manila (CFMNL) and Siltless Deep Sea Diving Center, and they are definitely read to go.

Evan, Ramil, and Chino do a few chin-ups while training in CFMNL.

CFMNL, with branches in Makati, the Fort, Pasig, Libis and Alabang, gave ten high intensity workouts to Evan Ray Datuin, Ramil Santos, and Chino Roque. The three astronaut hopefuls were given a very challenging battery of 7 minute AMRAP (as many rounds/reps as possible) of wall balls, box jumps, squat thrusts, push-ups, and chin-ups. In doing this, the physical limits of the trio were rapidly pushed to the brink, and then expanded immediately afterwards.

From there, Siltless Diving head Jason Kho Gillo prepared them to deal with near-weightless environments, as is the case when underwater. Giving all three in-water instructions, they were taken on a Discover Scuba Experience program, which is a worldwide certified program for beginners to get their feet wet literally and figuratively when it comes to diving. As an introduction rather than a full course, of the 5 Chapters required to complete the Discover Scuba Experience program, only 1 was given for the three astronaut hopefuls.

Ramil, Evan Ray, and Chino are given some pre-underwater instructions at Siltless Diving.

AXE Apollo Team Philippines members are given in-water instructions at Siltless Diving.

The AXE Apollo Team Philippines members shows okay sign.

At the St. Luke’s Global City’s Felicidad Sy Health and Wellness Center, a team of world-class physicians and nurses conducted a battery of physical tests on AXE Apollo Team Philippines members to assess their physical fitness and health readiness for the rigors of space camp. They had basic medical consultations, blood tests, x-rays, treadmill exercise tests, ECG’s, and ultrasound using the hospital’s state-of-the-art facilities.

Ramil takes the treadmill exercise test.

Ramil gets his blood pressure checked.

AXE Apollo Team Philippines with the medical experts from St. Luke’s Global City.

The Filipino’s resilience is a trait that all three members of Team Axe Apollo Philippines are very fortunate to have. As they head towards their date with destiny, the entire Filipino nation is ready to share in this moment and cheer them on.

GoAXE APOLLO Team Philippines!

News alert!  To all AXE fans and users, the no. 1 fragrance brand on the planet  is sending 23 lucky people to space to celebrate the launch of their newest fragrance “AXE Apollo”.  The bad news is that unless you're one of the 112 people on Earth set to train at the international AXE Apollo Global Space Camp in Florida this December, you probably won't be one of them.  Well if you;re not one of those people set off to space then it's a good thing AXE Philippines and FOX International Channels made a better use of the weekend last week as they set up an “AXE Apollo Space Simulator”.  This is a specially-designated facility for all you people who won't make it to actual space.



Gladly, your's truly was invited to cover the “AXE Apollo Space Simulator” event and tried the actual simulator together with my husband.  We usually do pictures with my family and friends with the jump shots and my husband, who's our photographer need to captured that moment.  It was really fun seeing your self jumping high up in the air as if you're defying gravity.



With the "AXE Apollo Space Simulator" we were able to experience what it feels like in space just like the astronauts and I'm so excited to see my pic with that Simulator. So for the hundreds of people who were able to use the AXE's space simulator to take epic 360-degree videos of yourselves floating in zero-gravity, congratulations - you're an astronaut, at least in photos, just like what we did.



Now, if you didn't get invited to AXE's space camp and you weren't able to catch AXE's space simulator, you can still feel space and be like an astronaut by doing the "Apollo-ing".  Explaining more of the term it is taking a photo that is made to look like you're defying gravity or much better on zero gravity.  If you have done this then you're one of the few people who does the "Apollo-ing" and what's even great is that you can win a GO PRO Cameras while doing it. Here's how:

Step 1:  Take an epic photo of yourself suspended in mid-air. (Tip: Make sure you look like you didn't exert an ounce of effort jumping up in the air and striking a pose, so you look like you're really in zero-GS).


Step 2: Post the photo on Facebook o Twitter or Instaggram with the hashtag #AXEApolloing

Step 3: Show th photo to all your frieds and perhaps even to total strangers (optional)

Step 4: You get a chance to win a GO PRO Camera!

For more information about how to Apollo, check out www.axeapolloing.com AXE Space Simulator and AXE Apollo-ing are brought to you by FOX International Channels, Canon, and Bonifacio Global City.


So hurry, gals and pals, it's your chance to show off those astronaut like poses, and enjoy the GO PRO Camera if you win. Capture the moment and share it!