4 May

1959: On 4 May 1959, ESA astronaut Maurizio Cheli was born. He was a former Lieutenant Colonel in the Italian Air Force, was selected in 1992 by ESA as an astronaut and started the Mission Specialist Training at Houston in August 1992. From 22 February 1996 until 9 March 1996 he flew on Shuttle Mission STS-75 together with the European astronaut Claude Nicollier and the Italian astronaut Umberto Guidoni.