Pedro Duque
From The Space Library
| Image:Duque.jpg Pedro Duque | |
| Birth Name | Pedro Duque |
|---|---|
| Birth Date | 0Jan/04/Feb0JanMar 3 19633 |
| Occupation | Astronaut, European Space Agency |
Contents |
Personal Data
Born 14 March 1963 in Madrid, Spain. He is married and has 3 children. Enjoys diving, swimming and cycling.
Education
Graduated with a degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the Escuela Tecnica Superior de Ingenieros Aeronauticos, Universidad Politecnica, Madrid in 1986.
Experience
Duque joined GMV (Grupo Mecanica del Vuelo) in 1986 and moved to ESA's European Space Operations Center (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany, to give support to the Precise Orbit Determination Group. Until 1992, he worked on the development of models for orbit determination, algorithms and implementation of orbit computation software. He was also part of the Flight Control Team for ESA's ERS-1 satellite and EURECA 1, the European Retrievable Carrier.
Spaceflight Experience
NASA/ESA EXPERIENCE: Duque was selected to join the ESA Astronaut Corps based at the European Astronaut Centre (EAC) in Cologne, Germany, in May 1992. He completed the Introductory and Basic Training Programs at EAC and a four-week training program at TsPK (the Russian Cosmonaut Training Center ) in Star City, Russia. In August 1993, Duque returned to TsPK to train for the joint ESA-Russian Euromir 94 mission. During Euromir 94, which took place from 3 October to 4 November 1994, he was the prime Crew Interface Coordinator (CIC) in the Russian Mission Control Center (TsUP) in Moscow. He served as coordinator between the crew onboard Mir and the European scientists. In May 1995, NASA selected Duque as an Alternate Payload Specialist for the Space Shuttle Life and Microgravity Spacelab (LMS) mission (STS-78) flown in June-July 1996. During this 17-day mission, Duque was one of the two CIC's, acting as the interface between researchers on the ground and the crew onboard the shuttle Columbia for all experiment-related issues. ESA had five major facilities on the flight and was responsible for more than half of the experiments performed. In August 1996, Duque entered the Mission Specialist Class at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston. This training led to his certification as Mission Specialist in April 1998, qualifying him for assignments on board the Space Shuttle. In 1999, Duque was assigned to ESA/ESTEC, Noordwijk, The Netherlands, providing Support to the Module Projects Division within the Directorate of Manned Spaceflight and Microgravity. He worked with the Columbus and Cupola Projects as integrated crew support until 2002, and again for several months after his second flight. Among the tasks assigned were: review of design from operability and maintainability points of view; ergonomic evaluation of the internal and external features of the module; evaluation of displays and procedures and participation in safety reviews. In April 2001 he was assigned to the first ISS advanced training class and underwent preparation until 2003 that qualified him for one of the first European long-term flights on board ISS. Pedro Duque was seconded by ESA as Director of Operations of the Spanish User Support and Operations Centre (USOC) in Madrid, which is managed by the Instituto da Riva/Universidad Politecnica de Madrid (IDR/UPM). There he manages the implementation and first operations of the Centre. Duque flew as Mission Specialist on the Space Shuttle Discovery, STS-95 mission (29 October to 7 November 1998). This nine-day mission was dedicated to research in weightlessness and the study of the Sun. Duque was responsible, among others, for the five ESA scientific facilities on board and for the extensive computer system and configurations used on the Shuttle. From 18 to 28 October 2003, Pedro Duque participated in the Cervantes Mission. During this 10-day mission to the International Space Station (ISS), Duque served as Flight Engineer on the Soyuz-TMA, launching with the Expedition Eight crew and landing with Expedition Seven. Duque carried out an extensive experiment programme in the fields of life and physical sciences, earth observation, education and technology, including experiments in the Microgravity Science Glovebox, a research facility developed in Europe.
Special Honours
Russian "Order of Friendship" awarded by President Boris Yeltsin of the Russian Federation in March 1995. "Great Cross of Aeronautical Merit" awarded by the King of Spain in February 1999. "Principe de Asturias" prize for International Cooperation shared with three other astronauts.
Other Information
Jan-05
