Since last November, she has been part of the new promotion of European astronauts. The French Sophie Adenot, present this Friday at the Space City after a two-day trip to Toulouse, did not hide his “incredible enthusiasm”.
“I’m so looking forward to all of these space adventure experiences, whether it’s working with expert teams, astronauts, training, simulators, trips to Houston, Canada, in Japan to discover the different modules on which we will have to operate…”, she explained, indicating that she had “energy to spare”.
The 40-year-old test pilot is due to begin training on April 1 at the European Astronaut Center (EAC) in Cologne, Germany. For 12 to 14 months, she will follow “basic training”. This multidisciplinary and generalist training will address many themes, from medicine to space systems.
Still a helicopter test pilot
“We are preparing a new generation of astronauts who will completely go beyond the simple fact of going to an orbital space station at 400 km and coming back, there we will go to 400,000 km and we will land on the Moon”, indicated Didier Schmitt, Head of Human Space Flight Strategy and Coordination at ESA.
At the end of this first training, one of the five astronauts of the promotion will be selected and will begin “mission-specific training which generally lasts two years before being able to take off”, indicates the lieutenant-colonel of the Army of the air and space. The other four will be divided between “several tasks: maintaining skills, helping to design future space exploration missions, helping communication between station crews and ground teams,” she continues.
Before her return to school, she continued her job as a helicopter test pilot, regularly taking command of the Puma, Chinook, Caracal and even the NH90.