The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.
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CNES astronaut Léopold Eyharts (FR) flew to the Mir space station in February 1998 on Soyuz TM-27. During his first space mission, he flew with Russian cosmonauts Talgat Musabayev and Nikolai Budarin. He joined ESA shortly after this mission, in August 1998.
The CNES 'Pégase' logo became the official patch worn on the flight suits. Originally, the mission was planned for 1997, so the first design - worn by the TM-26/EO-24 crew - showed '1997'. For the TM-27/EO-25 mission, it was redesigned, showing '1998'.
Two flight/crew patches were produced, one from a group called Planeta Zemlja and another from Novosti Kosmonavtiki/Spaceview. The Planeta Zemlja version, designed by Dmitriy Shcherbinin, was chosen as the official flight patch, worn by the crew on their training flightsuits.