Paolo A. Nespoli OMRI | |
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Born | Milan, Italy | 6 April 1957
Status | Retired |
Nationality | Italian |
Occupation | Italian Army |
Space career | |
ESA astronaut | |
Time in space | 313 days 2 hours 36 minutes |
Selection | 1998 ESA Group |
Missions | STS-120, Soyuz TMA-20 (Expedition 26/27), Soyuz MS-05 (Expedition 52/53) |
Mission insignia | |
Major Paolo Angelo Nespoli (born 6 April 1957) is an Italian astronaut and engineer of the European Space Agency (ESA). In 2007, he first traveled into space aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery as a mission specialist of STS-120. In December 2010 he again traveled into space aboard the Soyuz TMA-20 spacecraft as an Expedition 26/27 flight engineer. Nespoli's third spaceflight was on board Soyuz MS-05, which launched in July 2017 for Expedition 52/53. He was also the European Space Agency's oldest active astronaut prior to his retirement in 2019.