ISS Proxima
| Mission dates | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Mission: | ISS Proxima | ||
| Space station: | ISS | ||
| Start: | November 17, 2016, 20:20 UTC | ||
| Started by: | Launch of Soyuz MS-03 | ||
| The End: | June 2, 2017, 14:10 UTC | ||
| Ended by: | Landing of Soyuz MS-03 | ||
| Duration: | 194 days | ||
| Team photo | |||
 Thomas Pesquet in the European Columbus Laboratory , the mission logo can be seen at the bottom left.
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ISS Proxima is the motto for a French space mission in which the spaceman Thomas Pesquet stayed on board the International Space Station (ISS) for six months as part of the ISS Expedition 50 . The name of this mission says relatively little about the content of the mission, but it is common for ESA astronauts to put their mission under an individual motto.
preparation
The replacement for Pesquet was his Italian ESA colleague Paolo Nespoli . Pesquet was the only one of his selection group who had not yet completed a space flight.
Pesquet was officially selected as a spaceman with the European Astronaut Corps in May 2009 . On the Soyuz TMA-18M mission , he was a substitute for his Danish colleague Andreas Mogensen , who, together with the Kazakhs Aidyn Aimbetow, completed a 10-day “taxi” mission on the ISS.
On February 10, 2015 it was announced that Pesquet would fly into space for a long-term stay as part of the ISS Expedition 50 . As a result, ESA and the astronaut launched a competition to find a name for the mission. On November 12, 2015, Pesquet announced the name of his mission: Proxima. Pesquet justified his decision by stating that Proxima was the closest star to the sun. As part of his mission, he wants to bring space travel to the people on earth as well.
Mission history
Pesquet took off for the ISS on the Soyuz MS-03 spacecraft . He was accompanied by Oleg Nowizki and Peggy Whitson . At the station they joined Expedition 50 , which also includes Commander Shane Kimbrough from the USA and Russian flight engineers Andrei Borissenko and Sergei Ryschikow .
Expedition 50 ended in April 2017 and was replaced by Expedition 51 . While Kimbrough, Borisenko and Ryschikow returned to Earth, Pesuqet stayed on the International Space Station with Novitsky and Whitson. The astronauts began Expedition 51 initially in threes, before the two other members of Expedition 51, Jack Fischer and Fyodor Jurtschichin , flew to the ISS on April 20 .
On June 2, 2017, Pesquet flew back to Earth with Novitsky. The Proxima mission officially ended with the landing in Kazakhstan at 2:10 p.m. UTC.
Experiments and successes
As part of the Proxima mission, Pesquet carried out over 60 experiments. He and the crew of Expedition 50 also set a new record for most of the time astronauts spent doing scientific research in a week.
His experiments should, among other things, help the scientists to better understand the human brain. The behavior of atoms in space and the currents of the oceans were also examined. Pesquet also completed two spacecraft missions .
Web links
- ESA: Thomas Pesquet (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet's space colleagues announced. February 10, 2015, accessed June 2, 2017 .
- ↑ Wanted: a mission name for astronaut Thomas. April 3, 2015, accessed June 2, 2017 .
- ↑ Thomas Pesquet closer to space with mission name Proxima. November 12, 2015, accessed June 2, 2017 .
- ^ A b Thomas Pesquet returns to earth. June 2, 2017, accessed June 2, 2017 .