SOPHIE ADENOT. After 20 years without a Frenchwoman in space, Sophia Adenot, a new recruit from ESA’s latest promotion, is preparing to join Thomas Pesquet in the ranks of European astronauts.
[Mis à jour le 25 novembre 2022 à 15h32] More than 20 years after Claudie Haigneré, France has a new astronaut among its compatriots. Paris did not hide its joy, as evidenced by the Twitter post of President Emmanuel Macron. “Proud to see Sophie Adenot following in Claudie Haigneré’s footsteps by becoming an ESA astronaut!” thus rejoiced the Head of State. This is the first time since 1985 that a French woman has been selected during recruitment campaigns by the European Space Agency. And if Sophie Adenot is not the first French astronaut, her CV is no less impressive. In particular, she can boast of being the first female helicopter test pilot in addition to having succeeded in passing the numerous physical, psychological and even cognitive tests of the European Space Agency’s latest astronaut recruitment campaign. , launched in February 2021. She is one of six new ESA recruits.
Sophie Adenot therefore walks in the footsteps of Thomas Pésquet, selected in 2009 and who attended the same engineering school as her in Toulouse. Alongside five other tenured astronauts and eleven reservists, Sophie Adenot belongs to the new promotion of ESA astronauts, which has the particularity of being equal and of counting the first parastronaut: John McFall. The promotion will be able to start their training at the European Astronaut Center located in Cologne.
Who is Sophie Adenot? Short biography
Sophie Adenot was born in 1982 in Burgundy. She studied engineering at the National School of Aeronautics and Space at ISAE SUPAERO in Toulouse between 2001 and 2003 where she specialized in the flight dynamics of spacecraft and aircraft. During her studies, she followed a training course that allowed her to obtain her private pilot’s license. In 2004, she moved to the United States and joined the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where she obtained a master’s degree in human factors engineering before returning to France.
Thanks to her engineering degree, she was hired by Airbus Helicopters where she worked for a year on cockpit design. In addition to her private pilot license, she also obtained her glider license. During her stay in the United States, she also passed her parachuting certificate.
In 2005, she joined the School of Air and Space to become a helicopter pilot. In 2018, she became the first female helicopter test pilot in France. During her career, Sophie Adenot evolved and reached the rank of lieutenant-colonel in 2020.
During the year 2021, it proposes its candidacy to the European Space Agency as part of its new astronaut recruitment campaign among 22,533 candidates. In November 2022, she became the second French woman astronaut, more than twenty years after Claudie Haigneré who was one of her sources of inspiration. “I was 14 when Claudie Haigneré took her first flight, it was a real trigger to do high-level science and technology. ” she said according to The Parisian. She thus joins Thomas Pesquet in the ranks of European astronauts.
Since when Sophie Adenot is lieutenant colonel in the army?
At the end of her studies, Sophie Adenot joined the Air and Space Force in 2005. She rose through the ranks and successively became lieutenant in 2006, captain in 2009, then commander in 2014. Finally, she was promoted Lieutenant-Colonel in the Air Force in 2020.
What does Sophie Adenot pilot in the Air and Space Force?
Her year spent at Airbus Helicopters working on cockpit design made Sophie Adenot want to take control of these machines. This is how she became a helicopter pilot in the Air Force. During her missions, she notably pilots Caracals which are search and rescue helicopters in combat zones. She also flew Super Pumas dedicated to the transport of high authorities, that is to say the president and ministers.
In 2018, she graduated as a helicopter test pilot, making her the first Frenchwoman to fulfill this mission. Today it has flown 3,000 hours on 22 different types of helicopters depending on theESA.
When will astronaut Sophie Adenot leave on a mission?
ESA’s new cohort of astronauts will begin training in the spring of 2023. This training will take place in Germany, at the European Astronaut Center in Cologne. Once this 12-month training has been completed, they will begin a new phase of preparation specific to the mission which will be entrusted to them within the international space station.
It will be necessary to wait until 2026 for one of these new astronauts to go on a mission in orbit. For the moment, there is no question of a lunar mission for this promotion. Indeed, according to astronaut Thomas Pesquet “For the Artemis missions to the Moon, we will send (…) rather people of my generation, by 2030, while this new promotion learns the trade, makes its weapons and a mission to the ISS” reports the newspaper The world.
How old is astronaut Sophie Adenot?
Sophie Adenot was born on July 5, 1982 in Burgundy. She is therefore 40 years old when she becomes a French astronaut for the European Space Agency in November 2022. During the previous selection campaign, that of Thomas Pesquet, the ESA recommended a maximum age of 40 years to apply, but this rule changed and candidates of this new promotion could apply up to 49 years of age.
What is Sophie Adenot’s family situation?
Along with her military life, Sophie Adenot is keen on her family life. She is indeed married and raises with her spouse their son aged about ten years. If her job requires a very important involvement, Sophie Adenot devotes time to her family even when she is not with them. She explains: “When I was abroad for my pilot training, the colleagues knew that between 6:30 p.m. and 7:00 p.m., it was not worth asking me for anything. I was at table with my son. My husband would put the phone on the table and I would have dinner with them,” reports Le Figaro.
Who is Sophie Adenot’s spouse?
Sophie Adenot shares her life with her husband, whom she met during her engineering studies, she said on the television show “Ca commence today” in 2019. The couple had a little boy today. now ten years old.
Where was Sophie Adenot born?
Sophie Adenot was born in 1982 in Burgundy, in the same region as Claudie Haigneré who inspired her so much. She was born in the small town of Imphy in the department of Nièvre.
What languages does Sophie Adenot speak?
Like the majority of astronauts, Sophie Adenot speaks several foreign languages. In addition to French, which is her mother tongue, Sophie Adenot is fluent in English. She also speaks German, Spanish and Russian.