Leopold Eyharts French CNES research astronaut Date of Birth: 28.04.1957 Country: France

1. Biography of Leopold Eyharts
2. Early Life and Education
3. Early Career
4. Astronaut Training and Missions
5. Personal Life and Further Career
6. First Space Mission
7. Second Space Mission
8. Recognitions and Honors

Biography of Leopold Eyharts

Leopold Eyharts was a French astronaut-explorer for the French National Space Agency (CNES). He completed 2 space missions with a total duration of 68 days, 21 hours, 29 minutes, and 26 seconds.

Early Life and Education

Leopold Eyharts was born on April 28, 1957, in Biarritz, Aquitaine. In 1980, he graduated from the French Air Force Academy, where he obtained an engineering diploma in Salon-de-Provence in 1979, and a fighter pilot diploma in Tours in 1980.

Early Career

Starting in 1980, Eyharts served as a patrol commander on the "Jaguar A" aircraft in the 7th division in Istres. In 1985, he became the squadron commander in Saint-Dizier. He participated in operations in Africa and training exercises in the United States.

Astronaut Training and Missions

In 1988, Eyharts graduated from the School of Test Pilots (EPNER) in Istres and served as a test pilot at the Flight Test Center in Bretigny-sur-Orge, near Paris, until 1990. He flew on more than 50 different aircraft models, accumulating around 3500 flight hours and completing 21 parachute jumps, one of which involved ejection.

In 1992, Eyharts was appointed as the responsible pilot-engineer for the Caravelle Zero-G program, which involved parabolic flight trajectories to simulate weightlessness. He also conducted qualification flights on the Airbus A300, which replaced the outdated Caravelle.

Personal Life and Further Career

Eyharts is married to Dominique Fossey and has one child. In 1985, he participated in the second selection of CNES-2 astronauts but was not selected.

In December 1990, Eyharts was selected as a pilot for the Hermes Space Plane in the 3rd group of CNES astronauts. He also underwent training at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Russia, participated in the Buran shuttle program, and completed survival training in the Moscow region.

First Space Mission

On January 29, 1998, Eyharts embarked on his first space flight as a research astronaut on the Soyuz TM-27 spacecraft, which docked with the Mir space station on January 31. He returned to Earth with the Soyuz TM-26 spacecraft on February 19, after a total duration of 20 days, 16 hours, 35 minutes, and 48 seconds.

Second Space Mission

Eyharts was selected as a flight specialist for the STS-122 mission aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis, which launched on February 7, 2008. After docking with the International Space Station (ISS) on February 9, he replaced astronaut Daniel Tani as a crew member of Expedition 16. Eyharts handed over his responsibilities to Garrett Reisman on March 15 and returned to Earth with the STS-123 crew on March 27. The duration of his second space mission was 48 days, 4 hours, 53 minutes, and 38 seconds.

Recognitions and Honors

Throughout his career, Eyharts received several honors and awards, including the Legion of Honour, National Order of Merit, Overseas Department Medal, National Defense Silver Medal, Order of Courage (Russia), and Order of Friendship (Russia).