Paolo Nespoli
On 23 October, Italian ESA astronaut Paolo Nespoli will take off on Space Shuttle mission STS-120 for a mission to the ISS. He will take part in mounting Node-2 to the ISS, the connecting element on which in the following Shuttle missions, the European and Japanese ISS laboratories will be attached.
Today's Exchange provides a portrait of Nespoli, who is preparing for his first mission to space.
The script is online as a PDF file under http://television.esa.int/photos/EbS53283.pdf
A WMV preview clip is online under http://esatv-movies.e-vision.nl/videos/mphi/Nespoli_DV_110907_12-09-07_wmphigh.wmv

SHOTLIST ESPERIA Mission - Paolo Nespoli: Getting ready for the ISS
10 00 00 ESA Generic
10 00 30 Title
10 00 40 TEXT While most of us are still brushing away the memories of the summer... in Houston, there is a man with a crucial mission ahead who has been training without a break since August last year. In only a few weeks, Italian ESA astronaut Paolo Nespoli will join another 6 NASA astronauts on board the space shuttle Discovery to fly to the International Space Station. And their task is a challenging one. The Esperia mission is responsible for the safe delivery and attachment of the ESA financed Node 2 connecting module to the ISS, an essential step for the station to be able to receive the European Columbus laboratory with the next shuttle flight in December.
10 01 21 CLIP Paolo Nespoli. ESA Astronaut
Esperia mission is an assambly mission to the ISS who will carry in the cargo of the shuttle the Node 2, an Italian-built module, and will bring it up to the station and do t