Zürcher Nachrichten - French, Belgian astronauts named next Europeans to fly to ISS

EUR -
AED 3.833929
AFN 72.964627
ALL 98.46974
AMD 410.482288
ANG 1.873176
AOA 958.225718
ARS 1067.049356
AUD 1.666857
AWG 1.878875
AZN 1.774753
BAM 1.956192
BBD 2.098621
BDT 124.204899
BGN 1.955601
BHD 0.393707
BIF 3072.916014
BMD 1.043819
BND 1.411583
BOB 7.18244
BRL 6.345171
BSD 1.039408
BTN 88.363714
BWP 14.36588
BYN 3.401482
BYR 20458.857295
BZD 2.089319
CAD 1.499044
CDF 2995.761523
CHF 0.932872
CLF 0.037419
CLP 1032.493641
CNY 7.618524
CNH 7.626712
COP 4582.366506
CRC 524.405125
CUC 1.043819
CUP 27.66121
CVE 110.288166
CZK 25.107024
DJF 185.087104
DKK 7.457963
DOP 63.292688
DZD 140.787225
EGP 53.141149
ERN 15.657289
ETB 129.565873
FJD 2.416861
FKP 0.826686
GBP 0.830192
GEL 2.932544
GGP 0.826686
GHS 15.279063
GIP 0.826686
GMD 75.155158
GNF 8979.80014
GTQ 8.008605
GYD 217.453592
HKD 8.110632
HNL 26.384289
HRK 7.487217
HTG 135.977259
HUF 413.947568
IDR 16892.022536
ILS 3.800124
IMP 0.826686
INR 88.789872
IQD 1361.572948
IRR 43931.739655
ISK 145.100882
JEP 0.826686
JMD 162.6226
JOD 0.740171
JPY 163.472813
KES 134.652506
KGS 90.812117
KHR 4176.837312
KMF 486.550268
KPW 939.436741
KRW 1514.367737
KWD 0.321486
KYD 0.866174
KZT 545.859426
LAK 22749.560501
LBP 93075.658456
LKR 305.161174
LRD 188.647817
LSL 19.135536
LTL 3.082127
LVL 0.631396
LYD 5.107024
MAD 10.460797
MDL 19.144838
MGA 4903.983079
MKD 61.525545
MMK 3390.284206
MNT 3546.897675
MOP 8.320868
MRU 41.336286
MUR 48.913424
MVR 16.053629
MWK 1801.846919
MXN 20.952657
MYR 4.68883
MZN 66.703943
NAD 19.135536
NGN 1614.214134
NIO 38.247667
NOK 11.807501
NPR 141.382342
NZD 1.845201
OMR 0.401881
PAB 1.039408
PEN 3.870376
PGK 4.214845
PHP 61.194942
PKR 289.308896
PLN 4.260197
PYG 8104.624697
QAR 3.78906
RON 4.974944
RSD 116.979037
RUB 107.409252
RWF 1448.890453
SAR 3.92095
SBD 8.750916
SCR 14.556008
SDG 627.860716
SEK 11.499026
SGD 1.414476
SHP 0.826686
SLE 23.801056
SLL 21888.370918
SOS 594.01908
SRD 36.670438
STD 21604.951007
SVC 9.094823
SYP 2622.627433
SZL 19.130835
THB 35.739849
TJS 11.370679
TMT 3.663806
TND 3.311964
TOP 2.444727
TRY 36.745676
TTD 7.054414
TWD 34.11671
TZS 2520.823735
UAH 43.591038
UGX 3812.764328
USD 1.043819
UYU 46.359293
UZS 13400.686375
VES 53.730883
VND 26550.586436
VUV 123.924312
WST 2.883851
XAF 656.088523
XAG 0.035222
XAU 0.000398
XCD 2.820974
XDR 0.792859
XOF 656.088523
XPF 119.331742
YER 261.346218
ZAR 19.100702
ZMK 9395.631657
ZMW 28.764766
ZWL 336.109373
  • BCC

    -0.2600

    122.75

    -0.21%

  • GSK

    0.1700

    33.6

    +0.51%

  • RBGPF

    59.9600

    59.96

    +100%

  • NGG

    0.8200

    58.5

    +1.4%

  • CMSC

    0.0200

    23.86

    +0.08%

  • JRI

    0.1100

    12.06

    +0.91%

  • BCE

    0.0500

    23.16

    +0.22%

  • CMSD

    0.0000

    23.56

    0%

  • SCS

    -0.5800

    11.74

    -4.94%

  • RIO

    -0.0900

    58.64

    -0.15%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0100

    7.27

    -0.14%

  • RELX

    -0.3100

    45.47

    -0.68%

  • AZN

    0.9100

    65.35

    +1.39%

  • BTI

    0.1131

    36.24

    +0.31%

  • VOD

    0.0100

    8.39

    +0.12%

  • BP

    0.1900

    28.6

    +0.66%

French, Belgian astronauts named next Europeans to fly to ISS
French, Belgian astronauts named next Europeans to fly to ISS / Photo: Ina FASSBENDER - AFP/File

French, Belgian astronauts named next Europeans to fly to ISS

France's Sophie Adenot and Belgium's Raphael Liegeois will be the first two from a new class of European astronauts to blast off to the International Space Station, the European Space Agency said Wednesday.

Text size:

Adenot will join the crew onboard the ISS, around 400 kilometres (250 miles) above Earth, in 2026 for a six-month mission, after which she will be replaced by Liegeois.

The pair were among five new European Space Agency (ESA) astronauts selected in 2022 out more than 20,000 applicants.

"I am very happy to fly first," Adenot told AFP in an interview from NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The 41-year-old engineer and helicopter pilot will become the second French woman onboard the ISS, after Claudie Haignere in 2001.

"Claudie inspired me lot -- we are in contact often, she gives me advice," Adenot said.

French Higher Education Minister Sylvie Retailleau said it was "a real source of pride".

"Sophie Adenot is a model of scientific commitment for all our young girls," she told AFP.

Liegeois, a 36-year-old Belgian-Luxembourg balloon pilot with a background in neuroscience, said in a statement that he "simply cannot wait to tackle this new upcoming challenge".

The pair -- along with Switzerland's Marco Sieber, the UK's Rosemary Coogan and Spain's Pablo Alvarez Fernandez -- officially graduated as astronauts in April following a year of basic training in Germany.

ESA chief Josef Aschbacher told AFP that including the seven astronauts from the 2009 class, the previous graduation year, it will be "the largest number we've ever had at one time".

The five newly minted astronauts will "all be flying 2030, which is good news," he added.

Adenot said the group got along well, united by suffering through brutal survival courses in the Pyrenees mountains at temperatures below minus 10 degrees Celsius (14 Fahrenheit).

Now in Houston, she says she is keen to "really get stuck into the nitty gritty of training", including preparing for six months of weightlessness on board the ISS.

Aschbacher said that "sending two newly graduated ESA astronauts to space is a crucial stepping-stone in the path of preserving European knowhow, ensuring Europe's long-term participation in ongoing programmes such as Artemis," NASA's upcoming Moon programme.

So does Adenot dream of setting foot on the Moon?

She admitted to thinking about it, but said she preferred to proceed "in stages" and currently has her sights set on the ISS.

For one, she is getting ready to take in Earth from the viewpoint of space.

"Experienced astronauts tell that it is a total wonder -- beyond imaginable," Adenot said.

O.Krasniqi--NZN