HomeTechnologyThe French Sophie Adenot is among the new class of European astronauts

The French Sophie Adenot is among the new class of European astronauts

The five selected astronauts were chosen from more than 22,000 applicants. They are called to fly in orbit, initially on the International Space Station.

France is again represented among the five new astronauts of the European Space Agency (ESA). The agency announced Wednesday that Sophie Adenot had been selected to be part of its new class of astronauts, the first since 2009, which included Frenchman Thomas Pesquet.

Sophie Adenot is a pilot and engineer, lieutenant colonel in the French Air Force. At age 40, she studied aeronautics and astronautics at Supaero and MIT in the United States.

He explained during the press conference that he began his career at the Airbus pole dedicated to helicopters. She worked there as a research engineer on helicopter cabin design.

First female helicopter test pilot in France

After joining the Air Force in 2005, Sophie Adenot was “a search and rescue pilot at the Cazaux airbase and participated in various rescue flights in desert and hostile environments,” the ESA explains on its site.

The new astronaut served as a training flight leader and mission captain with the high-authority transport squadron at Villacoublay and as a helicopter test pilot, the first woman to hold this position in France.

In this capacity, he tested 22 different types of equipment. During his career, he logged “3,000 flight hours,” he said Wednesday.

“Sophie Adenot embodies an example for the future of women in scientific and technical circles, where they are still underrepresented (less than one in ten astronauts is a woman)”, the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of higher education.

two women and three men

The new class of European astronauts includes two women and three men. The class of 2009 included a woman, Samantha Cristoforetti, originally from Italy. She is one of only two ESA female astronauts to have been sent into space in the agency’s entire history, the latter explains on her site.

The astronauts were chosen from more than 22,000 candidates, after a long selection process (medical and psychological tests, interviews, etc.).

Applications for ESA's new class of astronauts
Applications for ESA’s new class of astronauts © European Space Agency

French applications were the most numerous, with more than 7,000 applications, well ahead of German (3,695) and British (2,000). More than three-quarters of the applications were from men in the first round, according to ESA figures. In the second round, the gap narrowed, with 530 women and 831 men.

With so many candidates, “we are never sure of ourselves, we just make our way,” Sophie Adenot explained on Wednesday. “Now we are very happy,” she added.

A reserve of astronauts

These winners are called to fly in orbit, initially on the International Space Station (ISS); the few spots for future lunar missions are reserved for the older generation who already have experience in low-orbit stays. For newcomers, training will start in April 2023 at the European Astronaut Center in Cologne, Germany.

For the first time, ESA is establishing a “reserve” of astronauts, with people who have passed the recruitment processes but have not been retained. Another Frenchman, Arnaud Prost, was retained in this reserve corps.

Author: Sophie Cazaux with AFP
Source: BFM TV

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