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Astronauts

Exploring our Solar System is one of humankind's most exciting adventures. ESA selected its first astronauts in 1978 for the 1983 Spacelab mission on NASA's Space Shuttle. Here you'll find more about our current astronauts – the class of 2009.

Alexander Gerst
Andreas Mogensen
Luca Parmitano
Portrait of ESA astronaut candidate Marco Sieber. Credit: ESA
Matthias Maurer
Portrait of ESA astronaut candidate Pablo Álvarez Fernández.
Portrait of ESA astronaut candidate Raphaël Liégeois. Credit: ESA
Portrait of ESA astronaut candidate Rosemary Coogan. Credit: ESA
Samantha Cristoforetti
Portrait of ESA astronaut candidate Sophie Adenot from ESA's astronaut class of 2022.
Thomas Pesquet
Thomas Pesquet

Second commercial mission launch to International Space Station no earlier than 20 April

Posted on Saturday 30 January 2021 by julien

A launch date of no earlier than Tuesday, 20 April 20 has been set for the launch of the second crew mission that will bring four astronauts to the International Space Station. NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur will serve as spacecraft commander and pilot, respectively. Japanese JAXA astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, and ESA astronaut […]

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Matthias Maurer

(English) Matthias Maurer assigned to first spaceflight

Posted on Tuesday 15 December 2020 by Ally

(English) ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer has been assigned for his first flight to the International Space Station during a meeting of representatives from the USA, Russian, Japanese, Canadian and European space agencies at the beginning of December.

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Thomas Pesquet

Parcourez les photos de la Terre prises par Thomas !

Posted on Tuesday 20 October 2020 by julien

(English) Browse all Thomas Pesquet’s pictures on a map of the world and more.

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Astronauts

(English) Thomas and Matthias talk training in Astro Chat series

Posted on Friday 14 August 2020 by Ally

(English) ESA astronauts Thomas Pesquet and Matthias Maurer are training for upcoming missions to the International Space Station. Follow their journey in our Astro Chat series.

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Matthias Maurer

Video: Matthias trains at NASA’s JSC

Posted on Monday 22 June 2020 by Ally

ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer has started pre-assignment training at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, USA. He brings viewers along on his journey to date in the first in a series of vlogs. Though the date and spacecraft for Matthias’ mission to the International Space Station are yet to be set, he is the […]

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Astronauts

(English) At home with ESA

Posted on Thursday 9 April 2020 by Ally

(English) Efforts are underway around the world to stop the spread of coronavirus, which means many of us are confined to our homes. We're unable to visit loved ones and in some cases, unable to go outside at all. Not being able to go about our normal daily lives, coupled with the risk of contracting this new and highly contagious virus, brings up all kinds of emotions. So we asked astronauts and experts who have experienced long periods of isolation or quarantine for their tips to help us through.

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Luca Parmitano

(English) Operation Aikidō

Posted on Thursday 19 March 2020 by Ally

(English) Adrianos Golemis is an ESA flight surgeon based at the European Astronaut Centre in Cologne, Germany. He spent nine months in isolation at Concordia research station and three weeks in quarantine with ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano. He is currently working at a hospital in Thessaloniki, Greece. In this second post of a two-part blog series he helps you use isolation to your advantage.

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