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Ulf Merbold

German - (ESA)

Retired

Date of Birth: June 20, 1941
Age: 83


Dr. Ulf Dietrich Merbold (born June 20, 1941) is the first West German citizen and second German native (after Sigmund Jähn) to have flown in space. He is also the first member of the European Space Agency Astronaut Corps to participate in a spaceflight mission and the first non-US citizen to reach orbit in a US spacecraft. In 1983, he and Byron Lichtenberg became the first Payload Specialists to fly on the shuttle.

Space Shuttle Columbia / OV-102 | STS-9

National Aeronautics and Space Administration | United States of America
Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA
Nov. 28, 1983, 4 p.m.
Status: Success
Mission:

STS-9 was the sixth mission of the Space Shuttle Columbia. It launched on a 10 day mission to perform science in space using the Spacelab module.

Low Earth Orbit
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Space Shuttle Discovery / OV-103 | STS-42

National Aeronautics and Space Administration | United States of America
Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA
Jan. 22, 1992, 2:52 p.m.
Status: Success
Mission:

STS-42 was a Space Shuttle Discovery mission with the Spacelab module. The main goal of the mission was to study the effects of microgravity on a variety of organisms.

Low Earth Orbit
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Soyuz-U2 | Soyuz TM-19

Soviet Space Program | Russia
Baikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan
July 1, 1994, 12:24 p.m.
Status: Success
Mission:

Soyuz TM-19 was the 19th mission and the 16th long-duration expedition to Mir space station. The mission began on July 1, 1994, 12:24:50 UTC, launching Commander Yuri Malenchenko and Flight Engineer Talgat Musabayev into orbit. They docked with Mir two days later. During their stay there, cosmonauts performed two EVAs, carried out various scientific experiments in medicine, material sciences, astrophysics etc. Station crew was visited by several Progress resupply spacecrafts, and welcomed aboard the Soyuz TM-20 crew. The mission concluded with a safe landing back on Earth on November 4, 1994, 11:18:26 UTC.

Low Earth Orbit
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Soyuz-U2 | Soyuz TM-20

Soviet Space Program | Russia
Baikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan
Oct. 3, 1994, 10:42 p.m.
Status: Success
Mission:

Soyuz TM-20 was the 20th mission and the 17th long-duration expedition to Mir space station. The mission began on October 3, 1994, 22:42:30 UTC, launching Commander Alexander Viktorenko, Flight Engineer Yelena Kondakova and Research Cosmonaut Ulf Merbold into orbit. They docked with Mir two days later. During their stay there, cosmonauts performed two EVAs, carried out various scientific experiments. Station crew was visited by several Progress resupply spacecrafts, and welcomed aboard the Soyuz TM-21 crew. During this mission the first rendezvous maneuver of the Space Shuttle STS-63 with the Mir space station was performed. The mission concluded with a safe landing back on Earth on March 22, 1995, 04:04:05 UTC.

Low Earth Orbit
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Director General: Josef Aschbacher

The 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.


Long March 4B
Success
1 week ago
Gaofen-11-05
Launch Complex 9 - Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

Gaofen is a series of civilian Earth observation satellites developed and launched for the China High-definition Earth Observation System (CHEOS), a …


Falcon 9
Failure
2 weeks ago
Starlink Group 9-3
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

A batch of 20 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Hyperbola-1
Failure
2 weeks, 1 day ago
Yunyao-1 15-17
Launch Area 95A - Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

3 weather satellites performing atmospheric measurements using GNSS Radio Occultation for a Tianjin based company. Constellation is planned to have a…


Ariane 62
Success
2 weeks, 3 days ago
Maiden Flight
Ariane Launch Area 4 - Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana

Maiden Flight of the Ariane 62 launch vehicle, carrying ten cubesats, two deployers, five experiments, and two reentry capsules.


Falcon 9
Success
2 weeks, 4 days ago
Türksat 6A
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral, FL, USA

Türksat 6A is Turkey's first domestically manufactured geostationary communications satellite. It is to reside in 42° East orbital slot, providing se…