How did Thomas Pesquet become an astronaut?

Born in Rouen in 1978, Thomas Pesquet graduated in 2001 from the École nationale supérieure de l'aéronautique et de l'espace (ISAE-Supaéro) in Toulouse, specializing in spacecraft control. He first worked at Thales Alenia Space, then joined CNES as a research engineer on autonomous spacecraft systems, where he took part notably in work on crewed missions.

At the same time, he earned his pilot's licenses. In 2006, he was selected by Air France and became an Airbus A320 airline pilot, then an instructor. It was this dual expertise, spacecraft engineering and professional flying, that matched the profile sought by the European Space Agency.

In 2008, ESA reopened its first recruitment campaign since 1992. More than 8,000 applications were submitted. A year of psychological, cognitive and medical tests followed, along with interviews, eliminatory at every stage. In May 2009, six names were announced: besides Pesquet, Germany's Alexander Gerst, Italy's Luca Parmitano, Britain's Samantha Cristoforetti, Denmark's Andreas Mogensen and Italy's Paolo Nespoli — this class would become known as the "Shenanigans."

Selection was only the beginning. Basic training in Cologne, survival training, scuba diving for spacewalk preparation, Russian language, ISS systems, then assignment to a mission. Thomas Pesquet finally lifted off on 17 November 2016 aboard a Soyuz for the Proxima mission, becoming the tenth French citizen in space. He returned in April 2021 with the Alpha mission, this time aboard a Crew Dragon, and took command of the International Space Station during part of this second stay.