Roberto Vittori (born 15 October 1964 in Viterbo) is an Italian air force officer and an ESA astronaut. After graduating from the Italian Accademia Aeronautica in 1989, Vittori flew in the Italian Air Force. He then trained as a test pilot in the United States. In 1998, Vittori was selected by the ESA to join the European Astronaut Corps. Since then, he has participated in three spaceflights: the Soyuz TM-34/33 and Soyuz TMA-6/5 taxi flights to the ISS, as well as STS-134, the penultimate mission of the American Space Shuttle Program. He was the last non-American to fly aboard the shuttle.
Soyuz TM-33 was a visiting mission to ISS, which carried 3 cosmonauts and astronauts. Russian Commander, cosmonaut Viktor Afanasyev alongside Flight Engineer, ESA astronaut Claudie Haigneré and Flight Engineer/Spaceflight Participant, Konstantin Kozeyev launched aboard the Soyuz spacecraft on October 21, 2001, 08:59:35 UTC. They docked with the station two days later. During their stay there, crew assisted Expedition 3 members in station work. Soyuz TM-33 crew returned aboard Soyuz TM-32, landing safely back on Earth on October 31, 2001, 05:00:00 UTC.
Low Earth OrbitSoyuz TM-34 was a visiting mission to ISS, which carried 3 cosmonauts and astronauts. Russian Commander, cosmonaut Yuri Gidzenko alongside Flight Engineer, ESA astronaut Roberto Vittori and Flight Engineer/Spaceflight Participant Mark Shuttleworth launched aboard the Soyuz spacecraft on April 25, 2002, 06:26:35 UTC. They docked with the station two days later. During their stay there, crew assisted Expedition 4 members in station work. Soyuz TM-34 crew returned aboard Soyuz TM-33, landing safely back on Earth on May 5, 2002, 03:51:53 UTC.
Low Earth OrbitSoyuz TMA-5 begins Expedition 10 by carrying 3 astronauts and cosmonauts to the International Space Station. Russian Commander, cosmonaut Salizhan Sharipov alongside Flight Engineers, Leroy Chiao (NASA) & Yuri Shargin (RSA) will launch aboard the Soyuz spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and then rendezvous with the station. It landed on April 24, 2005, 22:08 UTC
Low Earth OrbitSoyuz TMA-6 begins Expedition 11 by carrying 3 astronauts and cosmonauts to the International Space Station. Russian Commander, cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev alongside Flight Engineers, John Phillips (NASA) & Roberto Vittori (ESA) will launch aboard the Soyuz spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and then rendezvous with the station. It landed on October 11, 2005, 01:09:00 UTC
Low Earth OrbitThe European Space Agency is an intergovernmental organisation of 22 member states. Established in 1975 and headquartered in Paris, France, ESA has a worldwide staff of about 2,000 employees. ESA's space flight programme includes human spaceflight (mainly through participation in the International Space Station program); the launch and operation of unmanned exploration missions to other planets and the Moon; Earth observation, science and telecommunication; designing launch vehicles; and maintaining a major spaceport, the Guiana Space Centre at Kourou, French Guiana.