• Selected by the European Space Agency (ESA) to become an astronaut, Sophie Adenot came to the Cazaux air base in Gironde on Monday, where she worked as a test pilot.

  • The forties does not hide her joy but is also aware of all the work that awaits her.

    She will join the European Astronaut Training Center, located in Cologne, Germany, for three years.

  • From 2026, she may be assigned to specific scientific missions on board the International Space Station (ISS).

At Air Base 120 in Cazaux (Gironde),

In 2008, Sophie Adenot joined Air Base 120 in Cazaux, Gironde, as a young lieutenant.

She returned there on Monday after being selected from 23,000 applicants by the European Space Agency (ESA) to become an astronaut, alongside four other recruits.

The culmination of a lifetime for this hard worker, now 40 years old, and loaded with diplomas.

Helicopter pilot then test pilot for the Air Force, she studied engineering at the Higher Institute of Aeronautics and Space (ISAE-Supaero) in Toulouse before integrate the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), in the United States.

It is with great pride that Air Base 120, where she worked for eight years, received her, alongside Arnaud Prost, ESA reserve astronaut.

A strong team spirit

If she does not minimize her satisfaction, speaking of "tremendous serenity and deep joy" at the announcement of the selection, after two years of preparation, she also confides that she did not really want to believe in it "to protect herself ".

“Me, I doubted until the end, it was never my style to have too much confidence, she comments.

This is what pushed me to learn new things, acquire new skills and give the best of myself.

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It was his team spirit that also made the difference in the selection, if we are to believe his peers.

And we have no trouble believing it when we hear him answer a question about the competition between European astronauts to travel to the Moon.

“There is no competition, European astronauts are a body.

It means we'll all be there for whoever goes.

And whoever will be the first European on the Moon will need the whole team to get there”.

The start of an adventure

The only calendar certainty for Sophie Adenot, she will start a new professional life from April 3, 2023 in Cologne, Germany, at the European astronaut training center.

After "three years of incompressible training", a first possible departure for the International Space Station would be possible from 2026 but no certainty at this stage.

She feels that she is “at the foot of Everest” and that she still has a lot to learn.

The program that awaits it is loaded.

Basic training will consist of learning “space mechanics, systems in orbit, etc., all the basic materials to be able to operate on board the ISS”, she summarizes.

Then awaits survival training if the landing takes place in a hostile environment.

“And when we are assigned to a mission, we get into the science and technology of the experiments that will be entrusted to us, she specifies.

That's the point of being researchers in this orbiting lab.

The astronauts have varied profiles and the same versatile training.

Their mission is not assigned to them according to their initial professional skills.

“I will join a line of European astronauts”

She does not hide a form of apprehension but also of excitement at the realization of her childhood dream.

“It's a big leap into the unknown, but I'm actively preparing for it, alongside the ESA teams.

And, I had a great training within the DGA [Direction générale de l'aviation] where I learned to deal with unpredictable situations.

Passionate about yoga, she also practices scuba diving and snorkeling, "a discipline that requires good mental preparation and great calm".

She is the second French woman astronaut, after Claudie Haigneré, whose career inspired her a lot, but she does not hold to this label of female astronaut: "I am going to join a line of European astronauts, not to mention the gender issue.

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She walks in the footsteps of Thomas Pesquet, who was able to communicate with the general public brilliantly.

And, she hopes to find her style when the time comes, aware of the role of ambassador for science that she will have to play.

She left the Bassin d'Arcachon this summer but intends to wink at this territory when she is on board the ISS.

“You can expect me to photograph the Dune du Pilat.

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  • Science

  • Astronaut

  • ISS

  • Thomas Pésquet

  • Moon

  • Space