Claudie (André-Deshays) Haigneré (born 13 May 1957) is a French doctor, politician and former

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 ...

with the

Centre National d'Études Spatiales The (CNES; French: ''Centre national d'études spatiales'') is the French government space agency (administratively, a "public administration with industrial and commercial purpose"). Its headquarters are located in central Paris and it is und ...

(1985–1999) and the

European Space Agency , 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 (120 ...

(1999–2002).

Background and training

Born in

Le Creusot Le Creusot () is a commune and industrial town in the Saône-et-Loire department, region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, eastern France. The inhabitants are known as Creusotins. Formerly a mining town, its economy is now dominated by metallurgic ...

, Claudie Haigneré studied medicine at the Faculté de Médecine ( Paris-Cochin) and Faculté des Sciences ( Paris-VII). She went on to obtain certificates in biology and

sports medicine Sports medicine is a branch of medicine that deals with physical fitness and the treatment and prevention of injuries related to sports and exercise. Although most sports teams have employed team physicians for many years, it is only since the ...

(1981),

aviation medicine Aviation medicine, also called flight medicine or aerospace medicine, is a preventive or occupational medicine in which the patients/subjects are pilots, aircrews, or astronauts. The specialty strives to treat or prevent conditions to which aircr ...

and

space medicine Space medicine is the practice of medicine on astronauts in outer space whereas astronautical hygiene is the application of science and technology to the prevention or control of exposure to the hazards that may cause astronaut ill health. Bot ...

(1982), and

rheumatology Rheumatology (Greek ''ῥεῦμα'', ''rheûma'', flowing current) is a branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis and management of disorders whose common feature is inflammation in the bones, muscles, joints, and internal organs. Rheumatolog ...

(1984). In 1986 she received a diploma in the

biomechanics Biomechanics is the study of the structure, function and motion of the mechanical aspects of biological systems, at any level from whole organisms to organs, cells and cell organelles, using the methods of mechanics. Biomechanics is a branch of ...

and

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 chemic ...

of movement (1986) and received her doctorates in

(1984) and

neuroscience Neuroscience is the science, scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions and disorders. It is a Multidisciplinary approach, multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, an ...

(1992).

Space career

ISS-03 Soyuz TM-33 Taxi crewmembers in the Zvezda Service Module

Out of 10,000 candidates, France's space center selected only six men and one woman: Claudie Haigneré. She first qualified as an engineer and emergency pilot to the

Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program n ...

. She first served as a back-up crew member for the 1993 Mir ''Altaïr'' mission in which her future husband Jean-Pierre Haigneré participated. The

asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere. ...

135268 Haigneré is named in their combined honour. In 1994, Claudie Haigneré began training at the

Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center The Yuri A. Gagarin State Scientific Research-and-Testing Cosmonaut Training Center (GCTC; Russian: Центр подготовки космонавтов имени Ю. А. Гагарина) is a Russian training facility responsible for trai ...

in Star City, Russia, for the Franco-Russian Cassiopée mission and learned Russian during her time there. On 17 August 1996, she became the first French woman to go to space as she and two Russian cosmonauts, commander Valery Korzun and flight engineer

Aleksandr 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 ...

, launched into space aboard the Soyuz TM-24 on the Russian-French ''Cassiopée'' mission. While on the mission, visited the

Mir ''Mir'' (russian: Мир, ; ) was a space station that operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, operated by the Soviet Union and later by Russia. ''Mir'' was the first modular space station and was assembled in orbit from 1986 to&n ...

space station A space station is a spacecraft capable of supporting a human crew in orbit for an extended period of time, and is therefore a type of space habitat. It lacks major propulsion or landing systems. An orbital station or an orbital space station ...

for 16 days and she conducted comprehensive experiments in the fields of

and development biology, fluid physics and technology. In 1999, Haigneré commanded a Soyuz capsule during reentry and became the first woman qualified to do so. As the flight engineer on Soyuz TM-33 in 2001, she became the first European woman to visit the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest Modular design, modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos ( ...

. After the mission, Claudie Haigneré continued her involvement in space science by attending scientific workshops and conferences. She also contributed to data analysis and constructions for the scientific programs of future projects. She eventually retired from ESA on 18 June 2002.

Political career

Following her career as an astronaut, Claudie Haigneré entered French politics in

Jean-Pierre Raffarin Jean-Pierre Raffarin (; born 3 August 1948) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 6 May 2002 to 31 May 2005. He resigned after France's rejection of the referendum on the European Union draft constitution. Howev ...

's government. She was minister delegate for Research and New Technologies from 2002 to 2004 and succeeded Noëlle Lenoir as minister delegate for European Affairs from 2004 to 2005.

Organizational involvement

Haigneré was named as the founding director of Universcience in 2009. At that time, she was an advisor to the Director General of the ESA. In 2015, Haigneré resumed serving as a special advisor to ESA's

Director General A director general or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals'' ) or general director is a senior executive officer, often the chief executive officer, within a government ...

. Claudie Haigneré recently accepted the position to chair the Jury of the

DStv Digital Satellite Television, commonly abbreviated to DStv, is a Sub-Saharan African direct broadcast satellite service owned by MultiChoice and based in Randburg, South Africa. Launched on 6 October 1995, the service provides multiple audio, ...

Eutelsat Star Awards, which is an annual pan-African student competition in which students write an essay or create a poster focusing on science and technology fields as a source of inspiration to unlock opportunities for Africa. The essays and posters will then be judged by an international panel of industry experts, government and academic world members, based on accuracy, creativity, originality and innovation. Claudie Haigneré's acceptance of this assignment marks the first time a woman has served on the panel for the DStv Eutelsat Star Awards.

Honours

Claudie Haigneré received many special honors for her spaceflight career. She received the Chevalier of the

Légion d'Honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

as well as the Chevalier of the

Ordre National du Mérite The Ordre national du Mérite (; en, National Order of Merit) is a French order of merit with membership awarded by the President of the French Republic, founded on 3 December 1963 by President Charles de Gaulle. The reason for the order's estab ...

. To recognize her outstanding involvement in the Franco-Russian space cooperation, she received the Russian

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 ...

. She also received the Russian

Medal "For Merit in Space Exploration" The Medal "For Merit in Space Exploration" (russian: Медаль "За заслуги в освоении космоса") is a state decoration of the Russian Federation aimed at recognising achievements in the space program. It was established ...

and "Medal for Personal Valour". Claudie Haigneré is also an honorary member of the Société Française de Médecine Aéronautique et Spatiale and the Association Aéronautique et Astronautique de France (AAAF). She also holds membership in the

International Academy of Astronautics The International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) is an independent non-governmental organization established in Stockholm (Sweden) on August 16, 1960, by Dr. Theodore von Kármán, and recognized by the United Nations in 1996. The IAA has electe ...

(IAA) and of the Académie de l'Air et de l'Espace (ANAE). There are streets named after her in the French towns of Claira, Franqueville-Saint-Pierre,

Marignane Marignane (; oc, Marinhana) is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southern France. Geography It is a component of the Aix-Marseille-Provence Metropolis, and the largest suburb of the ...

, Mudaison and Valliquerville.

References

;Other sources * Flitner, Bettina: ''Frauen mit Visionen – 48 Europäerinnen (Women with visions – 48 Europeans)''. With texts by Alice Schwarzer. Munich: Knesebeck, 2004. , p. 108–111

External links

ESA profile page

The Andromede mission on the ESA website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haignere, Claudie 1957 births Living people People from Le Creusot Politicians of the French Fifth Republic French spationauts Women astronauts Physician astronauts ESA astronauts Astronaut-politicians Commandeurs of the Légion d'honneur Knights of the Ordre national du Mérite Recipients of the Medal "For Merit in Space Exploration" European amateur radio operators Amateur radio women Amateur radio people 20th-century French women scientists 20th-century French women politicians Women government ministers of France Mir crew members