Alexander Gerst at the ATV simulator

Alexander Gerst, German ESA astronaut, studying the docking mechanism of the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) at the European Astronaut Centre in Cologne, Germany.

Alexander will fly to the International Space Station in 2014 for a six-month mission as a flight engineer of Expeditions 40 and 41.

Alexander Gerst was born in Künzelsau, Germany, in 1976. He studied at the University of Karlsruhe, Germany, where he received a diploma in geophysics. He also studied Earth Science at Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand, where he was awarded a Master of Science. He has been working as a researcher since 2001. In his spare time he enjoys mountaineering, diving, climbing and skydiving.