Frenchwoman Sophie Adenot is officially an astronaut. Along with her five other classmates, she received her diploma on Monday, April 22, after a year of intensive training at the European Astronaut Center, which is in Cologne, Germany. The one who has always had Claudie Haigneré, the first French woman in space, as a model, is writing her own story a little more, because with this diploma, she can now be sent on a space mission.
2 mins
She is the first to be called to the stage, Sophie Adenot lets a tear escape as she receives her diploma, under the eyes of another Frenchman, that of the old promotion, Thomas Pesquet. For her, emotion, pride and recognition: “ Yes, I let myself be a little surprised by this emotion. I think I thought about all these years of work, everything we had experienced with my colleagues and then, full of gratitude towards those who supported me to get there. »
With her comrades, the Frenchwoman completed a year of intense training: theoretical courses including biology, astrophysics and learning Russian. “ Each day, it was three lessons of an hour and a half with a teacher “, she says.
And practical exercises, sometimes underwater and in a spacesuit, to simulate spacewalks. Sophie Adenot also remembers the first of them and the words of her instructor: “ When I came out of the airlock, underwater, I expected him to launch the first procedure, but no, he started to say to me: “Welcome to space”‘ and there, it was quite a moment magical for me. »
Read alsoThe astronaut factory: behind the scenes of a grueling training
In the race to fly aboard the ISS
The Frenchwoman already sees herself in space: “ But in fact, this diploma is just a very small step », explains Sophie Adenot. A small step which opens another, that of waiting: waiting for a mission to be entrusted to him. Sophie Adenot and her comrades are all expected to fly once aboard the International Space Station (ISS) by 2030, until then they will continue training.
And Sophie Adenot could fly to the ISS before 2030, since the first two selected will be known by the end of May.
Read alsoSpace: the International Space Station celebrates its 25th anniversary