Jean-Pierre Haigneré (born 19 May 1948) is a French Air Force officer and a former CNES spationaut. He flew on two missions to the Mir space station in 1993 and 1999. The Mir Altair long-duration mission (186 days) in 1993 also included an EVA.
Soyuz TM-16 was the 16th mission and the 13th long-duration expedition to Mir space station. The mission began on January 24, 1993, 05:58:05 UTC, launching Commander Gennadi Manakov and Flight Engineer Alexander Poleshchuk into orbit. They docked with Mir two days later. During their stay there, cosmonauts performed EVAs, various station repair and maintenance tasks, and carried out scientific experiments in materials research, space technology, astrophysics and earth observation. One of the experiments was the deployment of a 20-m foil reflector, which was a test of a future solar reflector designed to illuminate regions on the Earth's surface. Station crew was visited by several Progress resupply spacecrafts, and welcomed aboard the Soyuz TM-17 crew. The mission concluded with a safe landing back on Earth on July 22, 1993, 06:41:50 UTC.
Low Earth OrbitSoyuz TM-17 was the 17th mission and the 14th long-duration expedition to Mir space station. The mission began on July 1, 1993, 14:32:58 UTC, launching Commander Vasili Tsibliyev, Flight Engineer Aleksandr Serebrov and Research Cosmonaut Jean-Pierre Haigneré into orbit. They docked with Mir two days later. During their stay there, cosmonauts performed EVAs, various station repair and maintenance tasks, and carried out various scientific experiments. Station crew was visited by several Progress resupply spacecrafts, and welcomed aboard the Soyuz TM-18 crew. The mission concluded with a safe landing back on Earth on January 14, 1994, 08:18:20 UTC.
Low Earth OrbitSoyuz TM-29 was the 38th mission and the 27th long-duration expedition to Mir space station. The mission began on February 20, 1999, 04:18:01 UTC, launching Commander Viktor Afanasyev, Flight Engineer Jean-Pierre Haigneré and Research Cosmonaut/Fight Engineer Ivan Bella, who became the first Slovakian cosmonaut, into orbit. They docked with Mir two days later. During their stay there, cosmonauts performed several EVAs and various scientific experiments. Station crew was visited by several Progress resupply spacecrafts. The mission concluded with a safe landing back on Earth on August 28, 1999, 00:34:20 UTC.
Low Earth OrbitThe National Center of Space Research, or CNES, is a French National Agency in charge of France's space program. In partnership with the US and Russia, they have put 10 people in space. CNES works in tandem with the larger ESA to develop the Ariane 5 and work on other probes and satellites. They are working with Germany to develop a cheaper and more efficient reusable rocket, which hopefully will be ready to fly by 2026.