Jean-Loup Chrétien

• Premier vol habité   Soyuz T -6 ( 1982)

• Soyuz TM TM-7/Sojus -6 ( 1988)

Jean- Loup Jacques Marie Chrétien ( born August 20, 1938 in La Rochelle, Charente -Maritime, France ) is a French former astronaut ( Spationaut ) and test pilot. He was the first Frenchman, and the first Western Europeans in space.

Training

After attending various schools in Ploujean, Saint- Brieuc, Morlaix and he studied from 1959 to 1961 at the Academy of the French Air Force in Salon- de -Provence. After his training as a jet pilot, he served until 1970 when a squadron in Orange.

Then he graduated from the French test pilot school EPNER and worked for seven years as a test pilot in Istres.

Spaceman activity

After the French space agency CNES had received an offer from the USSR in April 1979 that a French astronaut could fly with aboard a Soyuz spacecraft were from September corresponding candidate in 1979 for the first manned space flight in France, the Premier vol habité sought.

Chrétien applied and was selected in June 1980 as one of two candidates. As of September 1980, he was to study in the Soviet Union, the following year he was nominated as a cosmonaut for the flight Soyuz T-6. On 24 June 1982 he launched the first Western Europeans into space. Together with Vladimir and Alexander Dzhanibekov Ivanchenkov he docked at the space station Salyut 7, which was manned already with the cosmonauts Anatoly Beresowoi and Valentin Lebedev, at. After seven days, Chrétien returned to Earth.

After this mission, he became chief of the Astronaut Office of the CNES.

The Americans gave France an opportunity for a manned space flight. In the years 1984 and 1985 was Chrétien substitute for Patrick Baudry in the Space Shuttle mission STS- 51G, which started in June 1985.

As of 1987, Chrétien was preparing for the Soviet- French research project Mir- Aragatz, which provided for a visit to the Soviet space station Mir. On his second space flight launched Chrétien on 26 November 1988 aboard Soyuz TM- seventh He became the first cosmonaut of a host country, who flew aboard a Soviet spacecraft twice. Together with Alexander Volkov and Sergei Krikaljow he docked at the Mir, which was already manned by Vladimir Titov, Musa Manarov and Valeri Polyakov at. In addition to various scientific experiments he undertook while on 9 December 1988 as the first non-US or Soviet spaceman ever a spacewalk, which lasted six hours. The return to Earth was made after 24 days in Soyuz TM- 6 together with Titov and Manarov.

Between 1990 and 1993, Chrétien was trained as a pilot in the Soviet space shuttle Buran, but completed no manned flight.

As of 1995, Chrétien again worked at NASA in Houston. To his third space flight, he started on 26 September 1997 aboard the U.S. Space Shuttle Atlantis American on mission STS -86. This flight led to Me, which was manned at this time with Anatoly Solovyov, Pavel Vinogradov and Colin Michael Foale. The flight lasted ten days.

In 2000, Chrétien took U.S. citizenship. His second wife is U.S. citizen.

He is fluent in English and Russian and has received many honors, including Hero of the Soviet Union and commander of the Legion of Honour. Today, he works in the private sector.