“An exemplary career that will leave a lasting mark on the world of astronautics.” The National Center for Space Studies (CNES) announced this Friday the death of astronaut Jean-Jacques Favier at the age of 73, paying tribute to him. Living in Toulouse, he will go down in history as the sixth Frenchman to travel to space during a flight aboard the American shuttle Columbia in 1996.
Among the 10 French in space
He had then spent 16 days, 21 hours and 48 minutes in orbit, from June 20 to July 7, 14 years after Jean-Loup Chrétien, the first Frenchman to fly into space, aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. With Claudie Haigneré or Thomas Pesquet, he is one of the 10 French astronauts who have gone into space.
A physicist and engineer by training, Jean-Jacques Favier was selected in 1985 as an “experimental astronaut” by the French space agency, when he was a research engineer at the Atomic Energy Commission (CEA).
Within CNES, he became the science manager for the Mephisto space furnace, which was flown multiple times aboard the space shuttle Columbia. In 1995, he was appointed as a specialist astronaut for an experiment in the Spacelab laboratory carried by the US spacecraft.
Long-duration missions to the Moon or Mars
“He will leave his mark on future generations and will inspire many of us,” adds CNES executive director Philippe Baptiste in the press release. During his mission, Jean-Jacques Favier was responsible for more than 30 physics experiments in microgravity.
After his career as an astronaut, he became involved in education and research, working in particular on a CNES project to prepare a future lunar and/or Martian base.
Source: BFM TV
