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Frank De WinneBrigadier General of the Belgian Air Component and ESA astronaut
Date of Birth: 25.04.1961
Country:  Belgium |
Content:
- Frank De Winne: Belgian Air Force General and ESA Astronaut
- Military Career
- Astronaut Selection and Training
- First Spaceflight: Soyuz TMA-1/Soyuz TM-34
- - Returned on the Soyuz TM-34 spacecraft
- Expedition 20 Commander
- - Launched aboard the Soyuz TMA-15 spacecraft in May 2009
- - Awarded the Order of Friendship by the President of Russia in 2003
Frank De Winne: Belgian Air Force General and ESA Astronaut
Early Life and Education- Born in Ghent, Belgium
- Graduated from the Royal Military Academy in Brussels with a degree in telecommunications and civil engineering in 1984
- Earned a distinction from the Empire Test Pilots' School in the United Kingdom in 1992
Military Career
- Served as a Mirage V fighter pilot from 1986 to 1992- Participated in the modernization program for Mirage V aircraft
- Commanded a joint Belgian-Dutch aviation group during the NATO war against Yugoslavia, completing 17 combat missions
Astronaut Selection and Training
- Selected as an astronaut by the European Space Agency in January 2000
- Underwent training at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Russia from August 2001
First Spaceflight: Soyuz TMA-1/Soyuz TM-34
- Flew to the ISS on the Soyuz TMA-1 spacecraft as a flight engineer for the fourth visiting expedition
- Returned on the Soyuz TM-34 spacecraft
- Completed a scientific program with 23 experiments in various fields
Expedition 20 Commander
- Appointed as the first European commander of the ISS in November 2008
- Launched aboard the Soyuz TMA-15 spacecraft in May 2009
Other Accomplishments- Became the first non-American recipient of the "Joe Bill Dryden Semper Viper" award for exceptional piloting skills in 1997
- Received the "Medal for Courage Shown During Military Operations" from the Queen of the Netherlands in 1999
- Elevated to the title of Viscount by King Albert II of Belgium in 2002
