André Kuipers in training
ESA's next space-bound astronaut, André Kuipers, has spent most of the summer intensively training for his upcoming mission to the International Space Station.
André and crewmates Oleg Kononenko and Don Pettit have spent days in the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre (GCTC) in Star City, not far from Moscow in Russia, at the European Astronaut Centre in Cologne, Germany, and at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, USA.
These photos tell the story of his summer time – rather different to the usual holiday snaps!
André is also writing in Dutch about his busy life in his blog André Kuipers logboek and you can follow his progress on Twitter in both English and Dutch: @Astro_Andre.
