Michel Tognini

• Mir- Antares Soyuz TM -14 TM-15/Sojus (1992 )

Michel Ange -Charles Tognini ( born September 30, 1949 in Vincennes, France ) is a French former astronaut and former director of the European Astronaut Centre (EAC ) in Cologne.

Biography

Tognini 1970 received a degree in the Department of Mathematics of the Military School in Grenoble. After graduating from the French Air Force Academy Ecole de l'Air in 1973 Tognini was trained as a fighter pilot. From 1974 to 1981 he served in the French Air Force. In 1982 he came to the Empire Test Pilot School in Boscombe Down in the UK. After his education he worked as a test pilot in France again.

Astronauts activity

1985 Tognini was selected as one of seven finalists by the French space agency CNES in her astronaut corps. In August 1986, he was nominated for the backup crew of Mir- Aragatz. As of November 1986, he was preparing the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City Soviet on this mission before, to possibly represent Jean- Loup Chrétien.

From 1989 to 1990 he worked for the Hermes program in Toulouse, France.

In 1991 he returned to Russia in order to prepare for his first mission, Mir- Antares. On July 27, 1992 Tognini launched aboard Soyuz TM -15 to Mir space station. After 14 days he returned with Soyuz TM -14 back to Earth.

In 1995 he came to the Johnson Space Center in Houston. After training mission specialist, he worked in the planning department for the International Space Station (ISS), for the robotics department and as a speaker connection ( CAPCOM ) in Mission Control.

On 23 July 1999, he flew aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia during the STS- 93 into space. During the five- day mission, the Chandra X-ray Observatory has been suspended.

In November 1999, he was ESA astronaut to return to the European Astronaut Centre (EAC) in Cologne, but was more active ESA astronaut.

In May 2003, he resigned as an active astronaut from the European Astronaut Corps. From May 2003 to December 2004, he was chief astronaut by ESA and thus Head of the Astronaut Division of the European Space Agency ( ESA). From January 2005 to November 1, 2011, he was Director of the EAC.

Private

Michel Tognini is married and has four children.