Astronaut Pablo Alvarez will not be the first of the class of astronauts selected in 2022 to fly to space. As he already mentioned during one of his visits to the ESAC center of the European Space Agency (ESA) near Madrid, “the current plan is for the first of our generation to fly in 2026 and for there to be one mission per year until 2030 for the five Europeans.”
This Wednesday, the director general of ESA, Josef Aschbacher, announced during the Space Council taking place in Brussels, that astronauts Sophie Adenot and Raphaël Liégeois have been assigned to their first space flights to the International Space Station (ISS) in missions currently scheduled for 2026.
“The appointment of Sophie and Raphaël as the next ESA astronauts to fly to the space station marks a significant milestone for the Agency and its class of 2022 astronauts, a tangible result of our commitment to maintaining a strong European presence in an international context,” emphasized Aschbacher. “As exploration activities proceed at an unprecedented pace, sending these two newly graduated astronauts to space is a crucial step in preserving European expertise, ensuring Europe’s long-term involvement in ongoing programs such as Artemis, as well as in any future projects involving human spaceflight and exploration.”
Born in France in 1982, Sophie Adenot is an engineer, helicopter test pilot, and Colonel in the French Air and Space Force. “It’s a tremendous honor to be selected for this mission! I’m truly excited to start a new part of this journey that will allow me to contribute to scientific research and exploration aboard the International Space Station. And to think that I’ll be able to do it representing France and Europe with ESA gives a new dimension to this adventure,” commented Adenot.
Meanwhile, Raphaël Liégeois, born in Belgium in 1988 and with experience in biomedical engineering and neuroscience, stated: “Just a month ago, we all gathered to celebrate the end of our basic training, and now, I have the opportunity to be assigned a mission to the ISS. I’m eager to take on this new challenge and to proudly represent Belgium and ESA!”
The two European astronauts, along with Pablo Alvarez, British Rosemary Coogan, and Swiss Marco Sieber, recently completed their one-year basic training, culminating in their official graduation ceremony in April at the European Astronaut Centre of ESA in Germany.
“With the assignment of Sophie and Raphaël to ISS expeditions, we are witnessing the realization of their lifelong dreams and aspirations, symbolizing both their personal achievements and the collective performance of the team that trained them at the European Astronaut Centre,” noted ESA’s Director of Human and Robotic Exploration, Daniel Neuenschwander. “Today, these two incredible individuals will represent ESA as a reliable partner aboard the Space Station and embody ESA’s competitiveness.”
Sophie is scheduled to fly first, followed by Raphaël. As they progress towards the later stages of pre-assignment and mission-specific training, they will gain deeper knowledge than that acquired during basic astronaut training, traveling to all associated sites, and preparing for their specific missions, focusing on the tasks they will carry out in space.
During their missions on the ISS, ESA astronauts will conduct numerous scientific experiments, many of them from Europe, perform medical research, contribute to Earth observation, and participate in operational and maintenance tasks of the orbital complex.
Referrer: MiMub in Spanish
