André Kuipers (; born 5 October 1958) is a Dutch
physician
A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...
and
ESA
, owners =
, headquarters = Paris, Île-de-France, France
, coordinates =
, spaceport = Guiana Space Centre
, seal = File:ESA emblem seal.png
, seal_size = 130px
, image = Views in the Main Control Room (1205 ...
astronaut
An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...
. He became the
second
The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ...
Dutch citizen,
third
Third or 3rd may refer to:
Numbers
* 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3
* , a fraction of one third
* Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute''
Places
* 3rd Street (d ...
Dutch-born and
fifth Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
-speaking astronaut upon launch of
Soyuz TMA-4
Soyuz TMA-4 was a Soyuz mission to the International Space Station (ISS) launched by a Soyuz FG launch vehicle. It was launched on April 19, 2004 (UTC) from Baikonur Cosmodrome. Gennady Padalka from Russia, Michael Fincke from the US and And ...
on 19 April 2004. Kuipers returned to Earth aboard
Soyuz TMA-3 Soyuz is a transliteration of the Cyrillic text Союз (Russian and Ukrainian, 'Union'). It can refer to any union, such as a trade union (''profsoyuz'') or the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (Сою́з Сове́тских Социалис ...
11 days later.
Kuipers is the first Dutch astronaut to return to space. On 5 August 2009, Dutch minister of economic affairs
Maria van der Hoeven
Maria Josephina Arnoldina van der Hoeven (born 13 September 1949) is a retired Dutch politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and nonprofit director.
Van der Hoeven attended a Lyceum in Maastricht from April 1966 until May 1969 ...
, announced Kuipers was selected as an astronaut for
International Space Station
The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ...
(ISS) Expeditions
30 and
31. He was launched to space on 21 December 2011 and returned to
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...
on 1 July 2012.
Personal life and education
André Kuipers was born on 5 October 1958 in
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
, in the Netherlands. He graduated from high school in Amsterdam in 1977, and received a medical degree from the
University of Amsterdam
The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being ...
in 1987. He is married and has three daughters and a son.
When interviewed about his youth, Kuipers stated that he dreamed of becoming an astronaut ever since he was a teenager. His dreams became reality when he was selected to the
European Astronaut Corps
The European Astronaut Corps is a unit of the European Space Agency (ESA) that selects, trains, and provides astronauts as crew members on U.S. and Russian space missions. The corps has 13 active members, able to serve on the International Space St ...
in 1998.
Space flight experience
Kuipers has flown two space missions: first the DELTA mission in 2004. In May 2009, he served as the backup of Belgian astronaut
Frank de Winne
Frank, Viscount De Winne (born 25 April 1961, in Ledeberg, Belgium) is a Belgian Air Component officer and an ESA astronaut. He is Belgium's second person in space (after Dirk Frimout). He was the first ESA astronaut to command a space mission whe ...
, who later became the
Expedition 21
Expedition 21 was the 21st long-duration mission to the International Space Station (ISS). The expedition began on 11 October 2009, with Frank de Winne becoming the first ESA astronaut to command a space mission.
The handover between Expeditio ...
commander, during the later part of his six-month mission. On 21 December 2011, Kuipers was launched for his second spaceflight PromISSe on Expedition 30 and Expedition 31. He returned to Earth on 1 July 2012.
DELTA Mission
Launch and docking
Using the
Soyuz TMA-4
Soyuz TMA-4 was a Soyuz mission to the International Space Station (ISS) launched by a Soyuz FG launch vehicle. It was launched on April 19, 2004 (UTC) from Baikonur Cosmodrome. Gennady Padalka from Russia, Michael Fincke from the US and And ...
, mounted atop a
Soyuz-FG
The Soyuz-FG launch vehicle was an improved version of the Soyuz-U from the R-7 family of rockets, designed and constructed by TsSKB-Progress in Samara, Russia. Guidance, navigation, and control system was developed and manufactured by "Polisv ...
rocket, Kuipers and his fellow cosmonauts
Gennady Padalka
Gennady Ivanovich Padalka (russian: Гeннадий Иванович Падалка; born 21 June 1958 in Krasnodar, Soviet Union) is a Russian Air Force officer and a Roscosmos cosmonaut. Padalka currently holds the world record for List of spac ...
(Russia) and
Michael Fincke
Edward Michael "Mike"/"Spanky" Fincke
(born March 14, 1967) is an American astronaut who formerly held the American record for the most time in space (381.6 days). His record was broken by Scott Kelly on October 16, 2015.
Mike Fincke was bor ...
(USA) rocketed towards the ISS in the early morning of 19 April 2004. The spacecraft flawlessly docked to the ISS two days later.
Experiments
As part of his DELTA mission, Kuipers conducted 21 experiments in orbit on a wide range of subjects:
physiology
Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical ...
,
biology
Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...
,
microbiology
Microbiology () is the scientific study of microorganisms, those being unicellular (single cell), multicellular (cell colony), or acellular (lacking cells). Microbiology encompasses numerous sub-disciplines including virology, bacteriology, prot ...
, medicine,
technological development,
physics
Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...
and
Earth observation
Earth observation (EO) is the gathering of information about the physical, chemical, and biological systems of the planet Earth. It can be performed via remote-sensing technologies (Earth observation satellites) or through direct-contact sensors ...
. One of the experiments in the field of technological development was related to the development of more energy-efficient lighting. The so-called
Arges project
The Arges project was a research project in the field of Metal-halide lamp, metal-halide lamps, a form of electric lighting. The aim was to achieve a higher degree of energy efficiency in comparison to lamps used at the time. The project was comm ...
, of which Kuipers' experiment formed a part, was commissioned by
Eindhoven University of Technology
The Eindhoven University of Technology ( nl, Technische Universiteit Eindhoven), abbr. TU/e, is a public technical university in the Netherlands, located in the city of Eindhoven. In 2020–21, around 14,000 students were enrolled in its BSc a ...
and
Philips Electronics
Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), commonly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, it has been mostly headquartered in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters is ...
. Maybe the best-known experiment involved plant growth: ''Seeds in Space''. Kuipers cooperated with primary school children in the Netherlands to compare results of plant growth from orbit with those from Earth.
Landing
Padalka and Fincke remained on board the
ISS
The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA (J ...
for six months, as the
Expedition 9
Expedition 9 (2004) was the ninth expedition to the International Space Station (21 April 2004 - 23 October 2004).
Crew
Planned crew before ''Columbia'' disaster
Mission parameters
*Perigee: 384 km
*Apogee: 396 km
*Inclination: ...
crew.
Kuipers returned to Earth nearly eleven days after launch on 30 April, joined by departing ISS crew members
Alexander Kaleri
Aleksandr "Sasha" Yuriyevich Kaleri (russian: Александр Юрьевич Калери; born in Jūrmala, Latvia on 13 May 1956) is a Russian cosmonaut and veteran of extended stays on the Mir Space Station and the International Space Statio ...
(Russia) and
Michael Foale
Colin Michael Foale (; born 6 January 1957) is a British-American astrophysicist and former NASA astronaut. He is a veteran of six space missions, and is the only NASA astronaut to have flown extended missions aboard both Mir and the Internati ...
(US), who thereby ended their six-month stay on board the ISS.
Expedition 30/31
![Andrekuipers](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7f/Andrekuipers.jpg)
On 26 November 2008, Dutch minister of economic affairs
Maria van der Hoeven
Maria Josephina Arnoldina van der Hoeven (born 13 September 1949) is a retired Dutch politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and nonprofit director.
Van der Hoeven attended a Lyceum in Maastricht from April 1966 until May 1969 ...
pushed for a second, six-month mission for Kuipers in 2011.
In the same speech, she said she would support the ISS project with an extra "few" million euros.
After a call with ESA director general
Jean-Jacques Dordain
Jean-Jacques Dordain (born 14 April 1946) was Director General of the European Space Agency between 2003 and 2015.
Graduating at École Centrale Paris in 1968, Dordain began his scientific career in the French Aerospace Research Agency (ONERA) ...
on 4 August 2009, Maria van der Hoeven confirmed on 5 August that Kuipers would be making a second space flight, starting in December 2011. Kuipers was the first astronaut to be selected for ISS Expeditions
30 and
31. Kuipers launched on 21 December 2011 on the
Soyuz TMA-03M
Soyuz TMA-03M was a spaceflight to the International Space Station (ISS). It launched on 21 December 2011 from Site One at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, carrying three members of Expedition 30 to the ISS. TMA-03M was the 112th flight of ...
flight with his two fellow crew members Cosmonaut
Oleg Kononenko
Oleg Dmitriyevich Kononenko (russian: Олег Дмитриевич Кононенко; ; born 21 June 1964 in Turkmenistan) is a Russian cosmonaut from the Turkmen SSR. He has flown to the International Space Station four times, as a flight eng ...
from the Russian Space Agency
Roscosmos
The State Space Corporation "Roscosmos" (russian: Государственная корпорация по космической деятельности «Роскосмос»), commonly known simply as Roscosmos (russian: Роскосмос) ...
, and
Don Pettit
Donald Roy Pettit (born April 20, 1955) is an American astronaut and chemical engineer. He is a veteran of two long-duration stays aboard the International Space Station, one Space Shuttle mission and a six-week expedition to find meteorites in An ...
from
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
. They arrived at the station on 23 December 2011 when their Soyuz docked to the ''Rassvet'' module on the Russian side. They returned to Earth on 1 July 2012, when their Soyuz TMA-03M touched down in the steppe of Kazakhstan.
Honours
* Officer of the
Order of Orange-Nassau
The Order of Orange-Nassau ( nl, Orde van Oranje-Nassau, links=no) is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands.
The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has ...
(17 May 2004, Netherlands)
* Knight of the
Order of the Netherlands Lion
The Order of the Netherlands Lion, also known as the Order of the Lion of the Netherlands ( nl, De Orde van de Nederlandse Leeuw, french: L'Ordre du Lion Néerlandais) is a Dutch order of chivalry founded by King William I of the Netherlands on ...
(15 October 2012, Netherlands)
– www.nu.nl
*
Honorary citizen
Honorary citizenship is a status bestowed by a city or other government on a foreign or native individual whom it considers to be especially admirable or otherwise worthy of the distinction. The honour usually is symbolic and does not confer an ...
of
Haarlemmermeer
Haarlemmermeer () is a municipality in the west of the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Haarlemmermeer is a polder, consisting of land reclaimed from water. The name Haarlemmermeer means ' Haarlem's lake', referring to the body of w ...
(15 October 2012, Netherlands)
* Honorary doctorate of the
University of Amsterdam
The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being ...
(8 January 2013, Netherlands)
- website www.uva.nl
* Recipient of the Order of Friendship
The Order of Friendship (russian: Орден Дружбы, ') is a state decoration of the Russian Federation established by Boris Yeltsin by presidential decree 442 of 2 March 1994 to reward Russian and foreign nationals whose work, deeds a ...
(3 July 2013, Russian Federation
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
)[ – website www.nos.nl]
* King of Arms
King of Arms is the senior rank of an officer of arms. In many heraldic traditions, only a king of arms has the authority to grant armorial bearings and sometimes certify genealogies and noble titles. In other traditions, the power has been de ...
at the inauguration of King Willem-Alexander
Willem-Alexander (; Willem-Alexander Claus George Ferdinand; born ) is King of the Netherlands, having acceded to the throne following his mother's abdication in 2013.
Willem-Alexander was born in Utrecht as the oldest child of Princess Beatri ...
, 2013
References
External links
*
Kuipers' biography, ESA
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kuipers, Andre
1958 births
Living people
Physicians from Amsterdam
Dutch astronauts
Physician astronauts
ESA astronauts
University of Amsterdam alumni
Officers of the Order of Orange-Nassau
Knights of the Order of the Netherlands Lion
21st-century Dutch physicians
Dutch-speaking astronauts