Sophie Adenot

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Sophie Adenot
ESA astronaut announcement Class of 2022 (52519418671).jpg
Adenot at the announcement of the 2022 European Space Agency Astronaut Group in Paris
Born
Sophie Marie Laurence Adenot

(1982-07-05) 5 July 1982 (age 43)
Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire, France
Alma mater
Space career
ESA astronaut
Selection 2022 ESA Group
Military career
Branch French Air and Space Force
Years2005–present
Rank Lieutenant colonel
Unit
Awards Ordre national du Mérite (chevalier)

Sophie Marie Laurence Adenot (born 5 July 1982) is a French engineer, helicopter pilot, and astronaut. [1] She holds the rank of lieutenant colonel in the French Air and Space Force and became France's first female helicopter test pilot in 2018. She was selected to join the European Astronaut Corps as part of the 2022 group.

Contents

Early life and education

Sophie Adenot was born on 5 July 1982, in Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire, Burgundy, France, to pharmacist Isabelle Adenot  [ fr ] ( née  Alloy) and Hubert Adenot, a notary in Corbigny. [2] [3] [4] Her mother served as national president of the Ordre national des pharmaciens  [ fr ], a professional order for pharmacists, from 2009 to 2017. [5] [6]

Adenot attended a maison d'éducation de la Légion d'honneur in Saint-Denis, a secondary school open to girls whose father, grandfather or great-grandfather had been awarded the Legion of Honour, where she obtained her baccalauréat . She then completed classes préparatoires aux grandes écoles to prepare for entry into a grande école. [7]

From 2001 to 2003, she studied engineering at the Institut Supérieur de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace (ISAE-SUPAERO), specializing in the flight dynamics of aircraft and spacecraft and earned a degree in 2004. [8] [9] [10] That same year, she earned a Master of Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). [9] [10] While at MIT, she worked in the Man-Vehicle Laboratory and wrote her thesis on how the vestibular system adapts to artificial gravity, contributing to the development of centrifuge training for astronauts. [8]

After graduating, she spent one year working as an engineer at Airbus Helicopters in Marignane, focusing on the design of helicopter cockpits, particularly for the H225 model. [7] [11]

Career

French Air Force

Promotional video produced by the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs (in French)

Adenot joined the French Air Force in 2005. [11] After completing helicopter pilot training, she was assigned to Escadron d'Hélicoptères 1/67 Pyrénées at Cazaux Air Base, where she piloted Caracal helicopters on search and rescue missions in hostile environments from 2008 to 2012. [8] [11] [12]

In 2012, she transferred to the High Authority Transport Squadron based in Villacoublay, which is responsible for transporting the head of state, government ministers, and visiting foreign delegations. [8] [11]

In 2018, Adenot was admitted to the Empire Test Pilots' School in the United Kingdom, becoming the first female helicopter test pilot in France upon graduation. She received the McKenna Trophy as the best test pilot of her 2018 class. [13] She also earned a postgraduate certificate in Flight Test and Flight Dynamics from Cranfield University. From 2019 to 2022, she worked as a helicopter test pilot for the French Defence Procurement Agency. [8] [11]

As of 2022, she had accumulated over 3,000 flight hours across 22 different types of helicopters. [14] [15]

Adenot was promoted to the rank of lieutenant in August 2006, [16] captain in 2009, [17] commandant in December 2014, [18] and lieutenant colonel in June 2020. [19]

European Space Agency

Adenot was selected to join the European Astronaut Corps as part of the 2022 European Space Agency Astronaut Group. She is the second French woman to join the corps, after Claudie Haigneré. [10] [15] [20] The 2022 class, nicknamed "The Hoppers", was chosen from a pool of 22,500 applicants. [21]

In 2024, ESA announced that Adenot would be the first member of her class to fly to the International Space Station (ISS) for a long-duration mission, with a launch planned for spring 2026. [22] [23] For her mission, she will bring a selection of French dishes, including lobster bisque and foie gras, created by Michelin-starred chef Anne-Sophie Pic to supplement standard onboard meals. [24] [25]

Awards and honors

In 2020, Adenot was recognized by the Young Leaders program of the French-American Foundation. [26] [27] In 2021, she was awarded the Medal of the French National Assembly  [ fr ] for her "actions as an inspiring ambassador for gender equality in sciences". [8] In 2022, she was appointed a chevalier of the French National Order of Merit. [9]

References

  1. ↑ "Astronaut Biography: Sophie Adenot". www.spacefacts.de. Retrieved 2 August 2025.
  2. ↑ Matthieu Delacharlery (23 November 2022). "Espace : qui est Sophie Adenot, la nouvelle astronaute française ?" [Space: who is Sophie Adenot, the new French astronaut?] (in French). TF1 . Retrieved 24 November 2022.
  3. ↑ "Les Imphycois, fiers de leur nouvelle astronaute : « Je souhaite tout le bonheur du monde à Sophie Adenot »" [People of Imphy, proud of their new astronaut: "I wish all the happiness in the world to Sophie Adenot"]. Le Journal du Centre  [ fr ] (in French). 24 November 2022. Retrieved 30 November 2022.
  4. ↑ Who's Who in France , 2020 edition, p. 77.
  5. ↑ Ramspacher, Marie-Sophie (6 July 2009). "Isabelle Adenot". Les Echos (in French). Retrieved 30 January 2023.
  6. ↑ Bonte, Marie (21 March 2017). "Isabelle Adenot quitte l'Ordre". Le Quotidien du pharmacien  [ fr ] (in French). Retrieved 30 January 2023.
  7. 1 2 Marion Simon-Rainaud (29 November 2022). "L'astronaute Sophie Adenot, une prof de yoga bientôt dans l'ISS" [Astronaut Sophie Adenot, a yoga teacher soon to be on the ISS]. Les Échos (in French). Retrieved 30 November 2022.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Sophie Adenot". esa.int . Retrieved 27 December 2022.
  9. 1 2 3 Lucie BRAS (23 November 2022). "Qui est Sophie Adenot, la nouvelle astronaute française qui rejoint l'Agence spatiale européenne ?" [Who is Sophie Adenot, the new French astronaut joining the European Space Agency?]. Ouest-France (in French). Retrieved 27 December 2022.
  10. 1 2 3 "Who is Sophie Adenot, the French engineer destined for space?". Radio France Internationale. 24 November 2022. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 Pierre Barthélémy (27 November 2022). "Meet Sophie Adenot, the second French woman astronaut in history". Le Monde . Retrieved 25 December 2022.
  12. ↑ Marceau Bonnecaze (21 November 2011). "Hommage de la nation à l'escadron d'hélicoptères" [Nation's tribute to helicopter squadron]. Sud Ouest (in French). Retrieved 30 November 2022.
  13. ↑ "ETPS Astronauts". QinetiQ. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
  14. ↑ Camille Hazard (24 November 2022). "Sophie Adenot, maman, pilote d'hélicoptère et astronaute" [Sophie Adenot, mother, helicopter pilot and astronaut]. Paris Match (in French). Retrieved 24 November 2022.
  15. 1 2 "L'astronaute française Sophie Adenot intègre la nouvelle promotion de l'Agence spatiale européenne" [French astronaut Sophie Adenot joins the new class of the European Space Agency]. Le Monde (in French). 23 November 2022. Retrieved 28 November 2022. Diplômée de l'Institut supérieur de l'aéronautique et de l'espace, l'ingénieure Sophie Adenot, lieutenante-colonelle de l'armée de l'air, a été la première femme pilote d'essai d'hélicoptères, avec 3 000 heures de vol à son compteur.[A graduate of the Higher Institute of Aeronautics and Space, engineer Sophie Adenot, Lieutenant-Colonel of the Air Force, is the first female helicopter test pilot, with 3,000 flight hours on her counter.]
  16. ↑ Décret du 23 octobre 2006 portant nomination et promotion dans l'armée active
  17. ↑ Décret du 24 août 2009 portant nomination et promotion dans l'armée active
  18. ↑ Décret du 11 décembre 2014 portant nomination et promotion dans l'armée active
  19. ↑ Décret du 26 mai 2020 portant nomination et promotion dans l'armée active
  20. ↑ "Espace : Sophie Adenot devient la deuxième astronaute française, plus de vingt ans après Claudie Haigneré" [Space: Sophie Adenot becomes the second French astronaut, more than twenty years after Claudie Haigneré]. France Info (in French). 23 November 2022. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
  21. ↑ "ESA presents new generation of ESA astronauts". European Space Agency. 23 November 2022. Retrieved 30 November 2022.
  22. ↑ European Space Agency, ESA (16 May 2024). First Space Station missions for new ESA astronauts . Retrieved 22 May 2024– via YouTube.
  23. ↑ Posaner, Joshua (22 May 2024). "French, Belgian euronauts next to fly to ISS". Politico Europe . Retrieved 17 May 2025.
  24. ↑ "Michelin-starred chef's lobster bisque and foie gras heading to space". BBC News. 2 July 2025. Retrieved 3 July 2025.
  25. ↑ Oltermann, Philip (2 July 2025). "Lobster bisque and onion soup on ISS menu for French astronaut". The Guardian . Retrieved 3 July 2025.
  26. ↑ Thomas Hory (28 July 2020). "Portrait : le lieutenant-colonel Adenot sélectionnée pour le programme Young Leaders (French-American Foundation)" [Portrait: Lieutenant-Colonel Adenot selected for the Young Leaders program (French-American Foundation)] (in French). Ministry of Armed Forces . Retrieved 30 November 2022.
  27. ↑ "Promotion 2020 - Les Young Leaders français" (in French). French-American Foundation . Retrieved 30 November 2022.
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