Who Is Thomas Pesquet, the ESA Astronaut in the April 23rd SpaceX Crew-2 Mission?

The International Space Station will soon have 4 new members of the astronaut team visiting them. The 4-member team includes Akihiko Hoshide, Thomas Pesquet, Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur. People are really interested in knowing more about these geniuses going to the ISS this spring mission. That is why we bring to you all the inspiring details about ESA Astronaut Thomas Pesquet. If you have been wondering about who is Thomas Pesquet, his bio, age, wife, net worth & more, then here is all about him.

Who is Thomas Pesquet?

Thomas Pesquet, who is an astronaut from the European Space Agency, is going to be part of NASA's Crew 2 mission. He graduated from the competitive French “classes préparatoires aux grandes écoles” at the Lycée Pierre Corneille in Rouen, France, in 1998. Pesquet received a master’s degree from the École Nationale Supérieure de l’Aéronautique et de l’Espace in Toulouse, France, majoring in spacecraft design and control. Also, he is a graduate of the Air France flight school in 2006. Thomas Pesquet is a member of the French Aeronautics and Astronautics Association (3AF) and of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). 

SpaceX Crew-2 Mission Specialist, Thomas Pesquet age

The Crew 2 mission astronaut, Thomas Pesquet was born on February 27 1978. He is currently around 43 years of age and is one of the finest European Astronauts who is also a black belt in judo and enjoys basketball, jogging, swimming, squash and outdoor sports such as mountain biking, kite surfing, sailing, skiing and mountaineering. He also has extensive experience in scuba diving and skydiving. His other interests include travelling, playing the saxophone and reading.

Thomas Pesquet net worth

Thomas Pesquet does not share much about his personal life on the internet and that is why the details about his salary are hidden. However, as per CelebSageWiki.com, the European Astronaut is has a net worth between $1 Million – $5 Million. 

Thomas Pesquet Experience

According to the ESA, Thomas was a trainee engineer with Thales Alenia Space in Cannes, France, from April to September 2001 where he developed a satellite system design tool using concurrent engineering techniques. From October 2001, he worked as a spacecraft dynamics engineer on remote sensing missions for GMV S.A. in Madrid, Spain.

Between 2002 and 2004, Thomas worked at the French space agency, CNES, as a research engineer on space mission autonomy. He also carried out studies on future European ground segment design and European space technology harmonisation. From late 2002, he was a CNES representative at the Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems, working on cross-support between international space agencies.

He is a known and an avid private pilot in his spare time. Thomas was also selected in 2004 for Air France’s flight training programme. He went on to become a commercial pilot for the airline, where he started flying the Airbus A320 in 2006. Having logged more than 2300 flight hours on commercial airliners, he became a type rating instructor on the A320 and a Crew Resource Management instructor.

Thomas was selected as an ESA astronaut in May 2009. He joined ESA in September 2009 and completed basic training in November 2010. After graduation, he worked as a Eurocom, communicating with astronauts during spaceflights from the mission control centre. He was also in charge of future projects at the European Astronaut Centre, including initiating cooperation with new partners such as China.

To be ready for a space mission, he received further technical and operational training in Europe, Russia and the USA: on the Russian Soyuz spacecraft, on the US and Russian spacesuits, and on Space Station systems. He took part in exploration training courses - living and working underground on ESA’s CAVES training course in 2011, and underwater on NASA’s Seatest-2 mission. On 17 March 2014, Thomas was assigned to a long-duration mission on the International Space Station.

Disclaimer: The above information is sourced from various websites/ media reports. The website does not guarantee a 100% accuracy of the figures

Promo Image ~ ESA.INT

Source of Info ~ NASA and ESA