Paolo Angelo Nespoli
From The Space Library
 Paolo Angelo Nespoli | |
| Birth Name | Paolo Angelo Nespoli |
|---|---|
| Birth Date | Apr 6 1957 |
| Occupation | Astronaut, European Space Agency |
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[edit] Personal Data
Born on April 6, 1957, in Milan, Italy. His hometown is Verano Brianza, in northern Italy. He is married to Alexandra Ryabova, and they have a wonderful daughter. Paolo enjoys scuba diving, piloting aircraft, photography, building electronic equipment and computer software.
[edit] Education
Nespoli received a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering in 1988 and a Master of Science in Aeronautics and Astronautics in 1989 from the Polytechnic University of New York. He was awarded the Laurea in Ingegneria Meccanica by the Universita degli Studi di Firenze, Italy, in 1990.
[edit] Experience
Nespoli was drafted by the Italian army in 1977 and became a noncommissioned officer working as a parachute instructor at the Scuola Militare di Paracadutismo of Pisa. In 1980, he joined the 9 Btg d'Assalto "Col Moschin" of Livorno, where he became a Special Forces operator. From 1982 to 1984, he was assigned to the Italian contingent of the Multinational Peacekeeping Force in Beirut, Lebanon. Following his return to Italy, he was appointed an officer. He left active army duty in 1987. Nespoli resumed university studies in 1985. Upon completing his M.Sc. in 1989, he returned to Italy to work as a design engineer for Proel Tecnologie in Florence as design and test engineer of space-qualified equipment and experiments. Civilian: Professional engineer, private pilot with instrument rating, advanced scuba diver and NitrOx diver. Military: Major (Italian Army Reserve); master parachutist; parachutist instructor; jump master, high altitude low opening and Special Forces operator.
[edit] Spaceflight Experience
NASA/ESA EXPERIENCE: In 1991, he joined ESA's European Astronaut Center in Cologne, Germany. As an astronaut training engineer, he contributed to the preparation and implementation of basic training for the European astronauts, and he was responsible for the preparation and management of astronaut proficiency maintenance and the creation of an Astronaut Training Database. In 1995, he was detached to the EUROMIR project at ESA's ESTEC establishment in Noordwijk, The Netherlands, where he was responsible for the team that prepared, integrated and supported the Payload and Crew Support Computer used on the Russian space station Mir. In 1996, he was detached to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, where he worked in the Spaceflight Training Division on the preparation of training for the ground and in-orbit crews of the International Space Station (ISS). In July 1998, he was selected as an astronaut by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and, 1 month later, joined ESA's European astronaut corps, whose home base is the European Astronaut Center (EAC) in Cologne, Germany. In August 1998, he was relocated to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, and assigned to the XVII NASA Astronaut class. In 2000, he obtained the necessary basic qualifications for being assigned to a mission on the space shuttle and the ISS. In July 2001, he successfully completed the course for operating the space shuttle robotic arm and, in September 2003, successfully completed the Extra Vehicular Activities advanced skills training. In August 2004, he was temporarily assigned to the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Moscow, Russia, where he followed the initial training for the Soyuz spacecraft. On returning to NASA's Astronaut Office at the Johnson Space Center, Houston, Nespoli performed proficiency training to maintain acquired qualifications and attended advanced courses. In addition, he carried out technical duties for NASA, ESA and ASI. In June 2006, Nespoli was assigned to the crew of STS-120, an ISS assembly mission. STS-120 launched from the Kennedy Space Center on October 23, 2007. During the mission, the Italian-built Node 2 "Harmony" was delivered to the ISS. This element opened up the capability for future international laboratories to be added to the station. In addition, the P6 Solar Array was relocated from the Z1 Truss to the end of the port side of the Integrated Truss Structure. STS-120 returned to land at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on November 7, 2007. The mission was accomplished in 238 orbits, traveling 6.2 million miles in 15 days, 2 hours, and 23 minutes. In December 2008, Nespoli was assigned to Expedition 26/27, a long-duration mission to the ISS. Expedition 26 launched from Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan on December 16, 2010 in the Russian-built Soyuz TMA-20 spacecraft, for which Nespoli was Flight Engineer 1. Nespoli and his two fellow Soyuz crewmembers joined three other crewmembers onboard the ISS, and during their 6-month tour of duty in space, they continued the construction of the ISS, maintained it and carried out scientific and technological experiments and educational activities. Expedition 26/27 returned to Earth on May 24, 2011, near Dzhezhazhan, Kazakhstan. This mission was accomplished in 2,544 orbits, traveling 63,345,600 miles in 159 days.
[edit] Organizations
[edit] Special Honours
2007 NASA Spaceflight Medal, 2007 Commendatore Ordine al Merito Repubblica Italiana, 2009 Cavaliere dell'Ordine della Stella della Solidarieta' Italiana.
[edit] Other Information
Feb-05
