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Author
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Topic: International astronauts in NASA Groups
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KenDavis
Member Posts: 235
From: E.Sussex United Kingdom
Registered: May 2003
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posted 10-01-2026 04:06 AM
   
In regards to personnel from other nations that trained as mission specialists i.e. Wubbo Ockels and Claude Nicollier of ESA with Group 9; Maurizio Cheli and François Clervoy of ESA and Marc Garneau and Chris Hadfield with the Canadian Space Agency in Group 14: - What did training as a mission specialist achieve, as I'm presuming they could have flown as a payload specialist? Did a mission specialist qualification make them more likely to be named to a mission?
- To what extent were they part of the NASA group, or just going through similar training at the same time?
- With the end of shuttle flights the need for such training diminished and so it is understandable that the European astronauts who joined in 2009 did not undergo mission specialist training, Samantha Cristoforetti, Luca Parmitano etc, but the two UAE astronauts selected in 2021 seem to be linked with Group 23.
Any thoughts please? |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 57152
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 10-01-2026 08:09 AM
With regards to your third question, it was not that training wasn't needed, it was that ESA opened its owned training center and certification program, supplanting the need to send its astronaut candidates to NASA with the exception of mission-specific needs after being assigned to a crew. |
DeepSea
Member Posts: 85
From:
Registered: Jun 2014
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posted 10-01-2026 10:44 AM
If I remember correctly, they put the Europeans through training with Group 9 to give them something worthwhile to do amid Spacelab delays. | |
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