ESA astronaut André Kuipers

ESA astronaut André Kuipers. A medical doctor and officer of the Royal Netherlands Air Force Medical Corps, Dutch-born André joined ESA’s Astronaut Corps, based at the European Astronaut Centre in Cologne, Germany in July 1999. André was assigned to ESA’s technical heart, ESTEC, in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, continuing his work on microgravity experiments. His first mission to the International Space Station, known as Delta, took place 19–30 April 2004. He returned there for a longer stay from 21 December 2011 to 1 July 2012, with the mission name PromISSe.