Interview de l'astronaute Luca Parmitano - Expedition 36 / 37 Volare

Luca Parmitano est pilote de chasse et pilote d’essai de l’Armée de l’Air Italienne.

 

Formé comme pilote de chasse sur l’AMX (appelé en Italie depuis 2012 : A-11A ou B, et T-11A ou B en fonction des versions), Luca Parmitano se forme également aux Etats-Unis avec l’US Air Force en 2001 et passe le diplôme d’Experimental Test Pilot en France à Istres à l’EPNER (école des pilotes d’essais en France).

Il est sélectionné par l’Agence Spatiale Européenne (ESA) comme astronaute en mai 2009 et commence son entrainement en septembre de la même année.

(Crédit Photo : Stéphane Sebile / Space Quotes - Souvenirs d'espace)

 

En février 2011, il est le premier des six nouveaux astronautes sélectionnés par l’ESA à être affecté à une mission sur la Station Spatiale Internationale. C’est la mission Expedition 36/37 volare).
Voir sujet sur la mission ICI (cliquez sur le lien)

 

Luca Parmitano, accompagné de Karen Nyberg et de Fiodor Yourchikine doit décoller de Baïkonour le 28 mai 2013 à bord de Soyouz TMA-09M.

Interview réalisée en mai 2013.

What was your most favorite memory of your astronaut training ?

That is a very hard question to answer, because there are so many great memories and stories, both from basic training and mission training.

Also, in my mind the past three years are still very near in time, and everything is connected, so that it's impossible to separate one memory from another.

I can tell you that, by far, the best thing about my job are the people I work with, and the people I have met all have created wonderful memories.

(Remise de diplômes à la sélection d'astronautes 2009 de l'ESA à Cologne)

What was the most difficult challenge for you during this time ?
Another very hard question.

Like most people in this line of work, I look forward to challenges. I cherish them, and revel in the satisfaction of overcoming them.

What happens is that you respect the challenges in front of you, and the harder they are, the more you come love them.

If I had to pick one thing, in the beginning, learning Russian to a level high enough to be assigned to a mission was certainly difficult, especially since I only had 3 months to do it. 

What was your reaction, your feeling when you have learned you have been selected for a space mission in ISS in 2013 ?

I was overwhelmed with joy, which I was able to share with all my colleagues, who were so genuinely happy about it.

Chance had it that the day I was assigned our American friends from the '09 class were visiting, so we were able to celebrate all together. I haven't stopped smiling since. 

What are yours feeling few days before the launch ?

It still doesn't feel real, especially because my crew and I still have to go through our final exams.

I think that it will start to sink in once I'm in Baikonur, the cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

I plan to write about it, so if you're curious check it out on my Volare blog, on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or on lucaparmitano.com!

(Photo signée par les 6 astronautes de l'ESA de la sélection 2009)