European Astronauts

European astronauts have been flying in space since 1983, taking part in numerous challenging space missions onboard the US space shuttle and the Russian MIR station, gaining a wealth of experience in many different disciplines.

In May 2009 six new astronauts were recruited to join the European Astronaut Corps. They will shortly start training at the EAC in Cologne to prepare for future missions to the ISS, the Moon and beyond.

Since 2001 they have been flying to the ISS to carry out scientific and technological research and essential spacewalks, or extra-vehicular activity, to assemble key elements of the Station.

In 2008 Hans Schlegel and Léopold Eyharts delivered the Columbus laboratory, one of Europe's major contributions to the ISS. Frank De Winne is currently on board the ISS for the 6-month OasISS mission, during which he will become the first European to take over the command of the ISS.

He will be joined in August this year by ESA astronaut Christer Fuglesang, who will carry out 2 space walks for assembly and maintenance tasks during the STS-128 shuttle mission.

With the station fast nearing completion, a full crew of 6 astronauts will dedicate more time to experiments that will bring new benefits to Earth.