European Astronaut Corps

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The European Astronaut Corps is a unit of the European Space Agency (ESA) that selects, trains, and provides astronauts as crew members on U.S. and Russian space missions. The corps has 13 active members, able to serve on the International Space Station (ISS). The European Astronaut Corps is based at the European Astronaut Centre in Cologne, Germany. They can be assigned to various projects both in Europe (at ESTEC, for instance) or elsewhere in the world, at NASA Johnson Space Center or Star City.

Contents

History

Ulf Merbold became the first ESA astronaut to fly into space. Ulf D. Merbold.jpg
Ulf Merbold became the first ESA astronaut to fly into space.

At the time ESA was formed, its main goals did not encompass human space flight; rather it considered itself to be primarily a scientific research organisation for uncrewed space exploration in contrast to its American and Soviet counterparts. It is therefore not surprising that the first non-Soviet European in space was not an ESA astronaut on a European space craft; it was Czechoslovak Vladimír Remek who in 1978 became the first non-Soviet or American in space (the first man in space being Yuri Gagarin of the Soviet Union) – on a Soviet Soyuz spacecraft, followed by the Pole Mirosław Hermaszewski and East German Sigmund Jähn in the same year. This Soviet co-operation programme, known as Intercosmos, primarily involved the participation of Eastern bloc countries. In 1982, however, Jean-Loup Chrétien became the first non-Communist Bloc astronaut on a flight to the Soviet Salyut 7 space station.

Because Chrétien did not officially fly into space as an ESA astronaut, but rather as a member of the French CNES astronaut corps, the German Ulf Merbold is considered the first ESA astronaut to fly into space. He participated in the STS-9 Space Shuttle mission that included the first use of the European-built Spacelab in 1983. STS-9 marked the beginning of an extensive ESA/NASA joint partnership that included dozens of space flights of ESA astronauts in the following years. Some of these missions with Spacelab were fully funded and organisationally and scientifically controlled by ESA (such as two missions by Germany and one by Japan) with European astronauts as full crew members rather than guests on board. Beside paying for Spacelab flights and seats on the shuttles, ESA continued its human space flight co-operation with the Soviet Union and later Russia, including numerous visits to Mir.

During the latter half of the 1980s, European human space flights changed from being the exception to routine and therefore, in 1990, the European Astronaut Centre in Cologne, Germany was established. It selects and trains prospective astronauts and is responsible for the co-ordination with international partners, especially with regard to the International Space Station. As of 2006, the ESA astronaut corps officially included twelve members, including nationals from most large European countries except the United Kingdom.

In 2008, ESA started to recruit new astronauts so that final selection would be due in spring 2009. Almost 10,000 people registered as astronaut candidates before registration ended in June 2008. 8,413 fulfilled the initial application criteria. Of the applicants, 918 were chosen to take part in the first stage of psychological testing, which narrowed down the field to 192. After two-stage psychological tests and medical evaluation in early 2009, as well as formal interviews, six new members of the European Astronaut Corps were selected – five men and one woman. [1]

Current members

As of 2024 there are eleven active members of the European Astronaut Corps. Five were selected in 2009, one was selected in 2015, and the remaining five selected in 2022.

Name
Country
Selection
Time in space
Missions
Samantha Cristoforetti Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 2009 ESA Group 370d 5h 45m Soyuz TMA-15M (Expedition 42/43), Crew-4 (Expedition 67/68)
Alexander Gerst Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 2009 ESA Group 362d 1h 50m Soyuz TMA-13M (Expedition 40/41), Soyuz MS-09 (Expedition 56/57)
Andreas Mogensen Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark 2009 ESA Group 208d 22h 34m Soyuz TMA-18M/16M, Crew-7 (Expedition 69/70)
Luca Parmitano Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 2009 ESA Group 366d 23h 1m Soyuz TMA-09M (Expedition 36/37), Soyuz MS-13 (Expedition 60/61)
Thomas Pesquet Flag of France.svg  France 2009 ESA Group 396d 11h 34m Soyuz MS-03 (Expedition 50/51), Crew-2 (Expedition 65/66)
Matthias Maurer Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 2015 ESA Group 176d 2h 39m Crew-3 (Expedition 66/67)
Rosemary Coogan Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom 2022 ESA Group 0d 0h 0mN/A
Sophie Adenot Flag of France.svg  France 2022 ESA Group 0d 0h 0mN/A
Pablo Álvarez Fernández Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 2022 ESA Group 0d 0h 0mN/A
Raphaël Liégeois Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium 2022 ESA Group 0d 0h 0mN/A
Marco Sieber Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg   Switzerland 2022 ESA Group 0d 0h 0mN/A

All of the current members of the corps, other than the 2022 ESA Group, have flown to space and have visited the ISS. French astronaut Thomas Pesquet is the member of the corps who has accumulated the most time in space with 396 days, 11 hours and 34 minutes. He is the record holder for all the European astronauts in history. The corps currently includes one woman, Samantha Cristoforetti, who formerly held the record for the longest spaceflight by a woman. Timothy Peake, a member of the 2009 group, retired in 2023. [2]

2009 Group

On 3 April 2008, ESA director general Jean-Jacques Dordain announced that recruiting for a new class of European astronauts will start in the near future. [3] The selection program for 4 new astronauts was launched on 19 May 2008 with applications due by 16 June 2008[ citation needed ] so that final selection would be due spring 2009. [4] Almost 10,000 people registered as astronaut candidates as of 18 June 2008. 8,413 fulfilled the initial application criteria. From these 918 were chosen to take part in the first stage of psychological testing which led to 192 candidates on 24 September 2008. After two stage psychological tests 80 candidates continued on to medical evaluation in January–February 2009. 40 or so candidates head to formal interviews to select four new members to European Astronaut Corps. [4]

2022 Group

Recruitment for the 2022 ESA Astronaut Group took place over 2021-22 and added five "career" astronauts as well as for the first time a "reserve pool" of 11 astronaut candidates, and also a person with a physical disability through the "parastronaut feasibility project". [5] [6]

In June 2023, Marcus Wandt, originally a reserve astronaut, was selected for Axiom Space mission and transitioned to "project" astronaut. [7] This later was set in place for Polish reserve astronaut Sławosz Uznański.

NameCountryRole
Sophie Adenot [8] Flag of France.svg  France Career astronaut
Pablo Álvarez Fernández [9] Flag of Spain.svg  Spain Career astronaut
Rosemary Coogan [10] Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom Career astronaut
Raphaël Liégeois [11] Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium Career astronaut
Marco Alain Sieber [12] Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg   Switzerland Career astronaut
John McFall [13] Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom Parastronaut
Meganne Christian [14] Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom Astronaut reserve
Anthea Comellini [15] Flag of Italy.svg  Italy Astronaut reserve
Sara García Alonso [16] Flag of Spain.svg  Spain Astronaut reserve
Andrea Patassa [17] Flag of Italy.svg  Italy Astronaut reserve
Carmen Possnig [18] Flag of Austria.svg  Austria Astronaut reserve
Arnaud Prost [19] Flag of France.svg  France Astronaut reserve
Amelie Schoenenwald [20] Flag of Germany.svg  Germany Astronaut reserve
Aleš Svoboda [21] Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  Czech Republic Astronaut reserve
Sławosz Uznański [22] Flag of Poland.svg  Poland Project astronaut
Marcus Wandt [23] Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden Project astronaut
Nicola Winter [24] Flag of Germany.svg  Germany Astronaut reserve

The funding by NASA and Russia of the International Space Station is currently planned to end in 2030. Thanks to their involvement with NASA's Orion programme, ESA will receive three flight opportunities for European astronauts to the Lunar Gateway. [25]

Former members

There are 18 former members of the ESA astronaut corps. [26]

Some ESA astronauts were selected by other European agencies and then enrolled into the European Astronaut Corps in 1998.

Name
Country
Selection
Time in space
Missions
Hans Schlegel Flag of Germany.svg Germany 1987 DLR Group 22d 18h 01m STS-55, STS-122
André Kuipers Flag of the Netherlands.svg Netherlands 1998 ESA Group 203d 15h 50m Soyuz TMA-4/3, Soyuz TMA-03M (Expedition 30/31)
Christer Fuglesang Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden 1992 ESA Group 26d 17h 37m STS-116, STS-128
Léopold Eyharts Flag of France.svg France 1990 CNES Group 68d 21h 28m Soyuz TM-27/26, STS-122/123 (Expedition 16)
Jean-François Clervoy Flag of France.svg France 1992 ESA Group 28d 03h 04m STS-66, STS-84, STS-103
Maurizio Cheli Flag of Italy.svg Italy 1992 ESA Group 15d 17h 41m STS-75
Pedro Duque Flag of Spain.svg Spain 1992 ESA Group 18d 18h 46m STS-95, Soyuz TMA-3/2
Reinhold Ewald Flag of Germany.svg Germany 1990 DLR Group 19d 16h 34m Soyuz TM-25/24
Umberto Guidoni Flag of Italy.svg Italy 1989 ASI Group 27d 15h 10m STS-75, STS-100
Claudie Haigneré née André-Deshays Flag of France.svg France 1985 CNES Group 25d 14h 22m Soyuz TM-24/23, Soyuz TM-33/32
Jean-Pierre Haigneré Flag of France.svg France 1985 CNES Group 209d 12h 24m Soyuz TM-17/16, Soyuz TM-29 (Mir EO-27)
Ulf Merbold Flag of Germany.svg Germany 1978 ESA Group 49d 21h 36m STS-9, STS-42, Soyuz TM-20/19 (Euromir 94)
Marianne Merchez Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Belgium 1992 ESA Group N/AN/A
Ernst Messerschmid Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany 1982 DLR Group 7d 00h 44m STS-61-A
Paolo Nespoli Flag of Italy.svg Italy 1998 ESA Group 313d 02h 36m STS-120, Soyuz TMA-20 (Expedition 26/27), Soyuz MS-05 (Expedition 52/53)
Claude Nicollier Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Switzerland 1978 ESA Group 42d 12h 03m STS-46, STS-61, STS-75, STS-103
Wubbo Ockels Flag of the Netherlands.svg Netherlands 1978 ESA Group 7d 00h 44m STS-61-A
Philippe Perrin Flag of France.svg France 1990 CNES Group 13d 20h 35m STS-111
Thomas Reiter Flag of Germany.svg Germany 1992 ESA Group 350d 05h 35m Soyuz TM-22 (Mir EO-20), STS-121/116 (Expedition 13/14)
Gerhard Thiele Flag of Germany.svg Germany 1987 DLR Group 11d 05h 38m STS-99
Michel Tognini Flag of France.svg France 1985 CNES Group 18d 17h 45m Soyuz TM-15/14, STS-93
Frank de Winne Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Belgium 1998 ESA Group 198d 17h 34m Soyuz TMA-1/TM-34, Soyuz TMA-15 (Expedition 20/21)
Roberto Vittori Flag of Italy.svg Italy 1998 ESA Group 35d 12h 26m Soyuz TM-34/33, Soyuz TMA-6/5, STS-134
Timothy Peake Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom 2009 ESA Group 185d 22h 11m Soyuz TMA-19M (Expedition 46/47)

European astronauts outside of ESA

Interkosmos

Ten Europeans became astronauts within the Soviet Union's Interkosmos program, which allowed citizens of allied nations to fly missions to the Salyut 6, Salyut 7 and Mir space station.

Space Shuttle

NASA trained and flew astronauts from allied nations on the Space Shuttle, especially as payload specialists for scientific missions such as Spacelab. Prior to the foundation of the ESA astronaut corps, both the French CNES and the German DLR had selected their own rosters of astronauts, notably in preparation for the introduction of the ISS. The following people flew on various Shuttle missions. [lower-alpha 1]

  1. Other European astronauts who flew on the Space Shuttle were transferred to the ESA astronaut corps, and are listed above.

Russian Mir missions

The following people flew on missions to Mir under agreements between their nations and Russia.

Space Shuttle missions

Astronauts from the European Astronaut Corps participated in several NASA Space Shuttle missions before the ISS era, in particular as Spacelab payload specialists. NASA considered the full-time ESA astronauts as payload specialists, but offered some the opportunity to train with its own astronauts and become NASA mission specialists. [27] (This list excludes missions to Mir or the ISS)

As Payload Specialists

As Mission Specialists

Missions to the Mir space stations

Astronauts from Europe have flown to Mir both on board Soyuz vehicles (as part of the Euromir programme) or on board the Space Shuttle. [28]

Missions to the International Space Station

European astronauts to have visited the ISS are:

AstronautAgencyMissionLaunchReturnExpeditionLaunch DateReturn DateNote
Flag of Italy.svg Umberto Guidoni ESA STS-100 STS-100 Expedition 2 19 Apr 20011 May 2001Flight 6A with MPLM Raffaello, visited Expedition 2 crew
Flag of France.svg Claudie Haigneré CNES Andromède Soyuz TM-33 Soyuz TM-32 Expedition 3 21 Oct 200131 Oct 2001Visited Expedition 3 crew
Flag of Italy.svg Roberto Vittori ESA Marco Polo Soyuz TM-34 Soyuz TM-33 Expedition 4 25 Apr 20025 May 2002Visited Expedition 4 crew
Flag of France.svg Philippe Perrin CNES STS-111 STS-111 Expedition 4/5 5 Jun 200219 Jun 2002ISS Assembly Flight UF-2, launched with Expedition 5 crew and landed with Expedition 4 crew
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Frank De Winne ESA Odissea Soyuz TMA-1 Soyuz TM-34 Expedition 5 30 Oct 200210 Nov 2002Visited Expedition 5 crew
Flag of Spain.svg Pedro Duque ESA Cervantes Soyuz TMA-3 Soyuz TMA-2 Expedition 7/8 18 Oct 200328 Oct 2003Launched with Expedition 8 crew landed with Expedition 7 crew,
Flag of the Netherlands.svg André Kuipers ESA DELTA Soyuz TMA-4 Soyuz TMA-3 Expedition 8/9 19 Apr 200430 Apr 2004Launnched with Expedition 8 crew, landed with Expedition 8 crew
Flag of Italy.svg Roberto Vittori ESA Eneide Soyuz TMA-6 Soyuz TMA-5 Expedition 10/11 15 Apr 200524 Apr 2005Launched with Expedition 11 crew, landed with Expedition 10 crew
Flag of Germany.svg Thomas Reiter ESA Astrolab STS-121 STS-116 Expedition 13/14 4 Jul 200622 Dec 2006ISS Assembly Flight ULF 1.1, first European to live on the ISS as flight engineer on Expedition 13 and 14
Flag of Sweden.svg Christer Fuglesang ESA Celsius STS-116 STS-116 Expedition 14 10 Dec 200622 Dec 2006ISS Assembly Flight 12A.1, visited Expedition 14 crew
Flag of Italy.svg Paolo Nespoli ESA Esperia STS-120 STS-120 Expedition 16 23 Oct 20077 Nov 2007ISS Assembly Flight 10A, visited Expedition 16 crew
Flag of Germany.svg Hans Schlegel ESA Columbus STS-122 STS-122 Expedition 16 7 Feb 200820 Feb 2008ISS Assembly Flight 1E, visited Expedition 16 crew
Flag of France.svg Léopold Eyharts ESA Columbus STS-122 STS-123 Expedition 16 7 Feb 200827 Mar 2008ISS Assembly Flight 1E, second European to live on the ISS as flight engineer on Expedition 16
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Frank De Winne ESA OasISS Soyuz TMA-15 Soyuz TMA-15 Expedition 20/21 27 May 20091 Dec 2009Flight engineer on Expedition 20, first European to command the ISS as commander of Expedition 21
Flag of Sweden.svg Christer Fuglesang ESA AlISSé STS-128 STS-128 Expedition 20 29 Aug 200912 Sep 2009ISS Assembly Flight 17A, visited Expedition 20 crew
Flag of Italy.svg Paolo Nespoli ESA MagISStra Soyuz TMA-20 Soyuz TMA-20 Expedition 26/27 15 Dec 201024 May 2011Flight engineer on Expedition 26 and 27
Flag of Italy.svg Roberto Vittori ESA DAMA STS-134 STS-134 Expedition 27/28 16 May 20111 Jun 2011Visited Expedition 27 and 28
Flag of the Netherlands.svg André Kuipers ESA PromISSe Soyuz TMA-03M Soyuz TMA-03M Expedition 30/31 21 Dec 20111 Jul 2012Flight engineer on Expedition 30 and 31
Flag of Italy.svg Luca Parmitano ESA Volare Soyuz TMA-09M Soyuz TMA-09M Expedition 36/37 28 May 201311 Nov 2013Flight engineer on Expedition 36 and 37, first member of the 2009 ESA astronaut class to fly
Flag of Germany.svg Alexander Gerst ESA Blue Dot Soyuz TMA-13M Soyuz TMA-13M Expedition 40/41 28 May 201410 Nov 2014Flight engineer on Expedition 40 and 41
Flag of Italy.svg Samantha Cristoforetti ESA Futura Soyuz TMA-15M Soyuz TMA-15M Expedition 42/43 23 Nov 201411 Jun 2015Flight engineer on Expedition 42 and 43, Longest uninterrupted spaceflight of a European astronaut
Flag of Denmark.svg Andreas Mogensen ESA IrISS [29] Soyuz TMA-18M Soyuz TMA-16M Expedition 44 2 Sep 201512 Sep 2015Visited Expedition 44 crew, first Danish astronaut
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Timothy Peake ESA Principia [30] Soyuz TMA-19M Soyuz TMA-19M Expedition 46/47 15 Dec 201518 June 2016Flight engineer on Expedition 46 and 47
Flag of France.svg Thomas Pesquet ESA Proxima [31] Soyuz MS-03 Soyuz MS-03 Expedition 50/51 17 Nov 201616 May 2017Flight engineer on Expedition 50 and 51
Flag of Italy.svg Paolo Nespoli [32] ESA Vita Soyuz MS-05 Soyuz MS-05 Expedition 52/53 28 July 201714 December 2017Flight engineer on Expedition 52 and 53
Flag of Germany.svg Alexander Gerst ESA Horizons Soyuz MS-09 Soyuz MS-09 Expedition 56/57 6 June 201820 December 2018Flight engineer on Expedition 56, second European to command the ISS as commander of Expedition 57
Flag of Italy.svg Luca Parmitano ESA Beyond Soyuz MS-13 Soyuz MS-13 Expedition 60/61 20 July 20196 February 2020Flight engineer on Expedition 60, third European to command the ISS as commander of Expedition 61
Flag of France.svg Thomas Pesquet ESA Alpha SpaceX Crew-2 SpaceX Crew-2 Expedition 65/66 23 April 20219 November 2021Flight engineer on Expedition 65, fourth European to command the ISS as commander of the final part of Expedition 65 and the first part of Expedition 66.
Flag of Germany.svg Matthias Maurer ESA Cosmic Kiss SpaceX Crew-3 SpaceX Crew-3 Expedition 66/67 11 November 20216 May 2022Flight engineer on Expedition 66 and 67
Flag of Italy.svg Samantha Cristoforetti ESA Minerva SpaceX Crew-4 SpaceX Crew-4 Expedition 67/68 27 Apr 202214 Oct 2022Flight engineer on Expedition 67, fifth European to command the ISS as commander of the first part of Expedition 68.
Flag of Denmark.svg Andreas Mogensen ESA Huginn [33] SpaceX Crew-7 SpaceX Crew-7 Expeditions 69/7026 August 202312 March 2024First non-American astronaut to pilot a United States spacecraft. Sixth European to command the ISS as commander of the first part of Expedition 70.
Flag of Sweden.svg Marcus Wandt ESA (Project)Muninn [34] Axiom Mission 3 Axiom Mission 3 Visiting18 January 2024 [35] 9 February 2024First ESA Astronaut on a private mission to ISS, first from the 2022 European Space Agency Astronaut Group to fly in space, First ESA project astronaut, fastest-trained astronaut in history after selection to fly into orbit.

Future missions to the International Space Station

Future European astronauts to the ISS are:

AstronautAgencyMissionLaunchReturnExpeditionLaunch DateReturn DateNote

See also

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