Thomas Pesquet

Thomas Pesquet is a French astronaut of the European Space Agency (ESA). He was born on 27 February 1978 in Rouen, France. Pesquet is the youngest member of the European Astronaut Corps and the tenth French astronaut.

Early life and education

Pesquet was born in Rouen, France. He graduated from the Lycée Pierre-Corneille in Rouen in 1998. He then studied at the École nationale supérieure de l'aéronautique et de l'espace (Supaero), graduating in 2001. He also holds a master's degree in space systems and space vehicle mechanics.

Career

Pesquet began his career in 2002 as a spacecraft dynamics engineer at the French space agency, Centre National d'Études Spatiales (CNES). In 2004, he joined the European Space Agency as a research engineer.

In 2009, Pesquet was selected as a candidate for the European Astronaut Corps. He completed his basic training in 2010. His first spaceflight was on Expedition 50/Expedition 51, which launched in November 2016. He returned to Earth in June 2017.

In 2020, Pesquet was assigned to the Crew-2 mission of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft, which launched in April 2021. He is the first French astronaut to command the International Space Station (ISS).

Personal life

Pesquet is a black belt in judo and enjoys basketball, jogging, swimming, and guitar playing. He is fluent in French, English, Spanish, Chinese, and Russian.

See also

• List of astronauts by year of selection
• European Astronaut Corps
• SpaceX Crew-2