ESA Astronaut: Frank de Winne First European Commander of ISS

It's the hot topic of the moment and so it's natural that any conversation is going to start with the new UK Space Agency (UKSA).

Belgian Frank De Winne, the first European to command the International Space Station, is inspecting the new agency's logo...and the name: "So, how do you say it? 'Yuke-sar'?"

I don't think anyone is quite sure. Everyone is still just enjoying the moment.

Frank has an interesting British connection. He spent a year at MoD Boscombe Down, in Wiltshire, in the early '90s. It was at the former RAF station there that he passed the exams needed to become a test pilot.

His fellow pupil on the course was Thomas Reiter, who would eventually become the first European astronaut to be sent on a long-duration tour to the ISS.

Indeed, it was while at Boscombe Down that Reiter found out that he'd been accepted into the European Space Agency's Astronaut Corps.

Frank, on the other hand, was told he'd have to wait. He went into a reserve pool and was finally called up in 1998.

He returned to Earth in December and so is still involved in what they call "post-flight activities". He's continuing with some medical and science experiments connected with his OasISS mission, and - of course - he's giving plenty of talks.

ESA Astronaut Frank de Winne comes safely home from ISS

European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Frank De Winne, Expedition 21 commander, works with the RadSilk experiment in the Kibo laboratory of the International Space Station. RadSilk examines the effects of radiation exposure in microgravity on silkworms.

Scorched Soyuz Re-entry Capsule
After falling through the Earth's atmosphere where th eouter coating is burned off, the Soyuz TMA-15 reentry module (shown here) landed safely in Kazakhstan at 13.15 local time (08.15 CET), bringing ESA astronaut Frank De Winne, Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Robert Thirsk back to Earth.

3 Men in a Fireball!
The wild ride and parachute landing concluded the six-month OasISS mission, ESA’s second long-duration mission to the International Space Station (ISS).

First European Commander
This flight saw Frank De Winne, from Belgium, become the first European to take command of the largest human outpost ever assembled in space. When De Winne, Romanenko and Thirsk arrived on the ISS in May 2009, they joined the three resident astronauts to form the first permanent crew of six, allowing more scientific experiments to be conducted onboard.

Swedish Astronaut Christer Fugelsang
In August 2009, De Winne was joined by ESA astronaut Christer Fuglesang, from Sweden, as part of the 14-day Alissé mission on the Space Shuttle STS-128 flight. Fuglesang participated in two spacewalks and returned to Earth with the first external payload from Europe’s Columbus laboratory module. The European Technology Exposure Facility had been in space since February 2008 and continues to yield a wealth of samples and data for the international science teams.

Japan's HTV-1 Duties
Soyuz TMA-15 crew: Frank De Winne, Roman Romanenko and Bob Thirsk
During his six months on the ISS, De Winne was instrumental in performing the robotic operations during which Japan’s HTV 1 supply ferry was attached to the ISS and the external payloads of Japan’s Kibo laboratory were installed.

ESA Astronauts Christer Furtwangler and Frank de Winne

The space shuttle never tasted sweeter: European Space Agency astronauts Christer Furtwangler and Frank De Winne catch shuttle-shaped Swedish candy. CREDIT: NASA TV/collectSPACE.com