5 August 2009
ESA PR 17-2009. As a result of the latest International Space Station Multi-Lateral Crew Operations Panel (MCOP) recently held in Houston, ESA has today announced that the European crewmember of Expedition 30/31 to fly to the International Space Station in 2011 will be André Kuipers from the Netherlands.
 
Therefore, as already stated by ESA’s Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain on several occasions, an astronaut of German nationality will be assigned to the following opportunity for an ESA astronaut to fly on board the ISS on a six-month mission. ESA plans to obtain the agreement of the ISS partners to accommodate the following opportunity in the 2013-2014 timeframe.  
 
André Kuipers is scheduled to reach the ISS in December 2011 on board a Soyuz spacecraft and to remain on the Station as part of the six-astronaut international crew until June 2012. This will be Kuipers’ second visit to the ISS after the 11-day Delta Mission in April 2004, which was sponsored by the Dutch government and was also carried out with a Soyuz spacecraft.

The European astronaut, who already served as back-up to ESA’s astronaut Frank De Winne for his currently ongoing OasISS mission (Expedition 20/21), will be trained for robotic activities and for a possible Extra-Vehicular Activity (EVA).

“I am very excited at the prospect of preparing for such a challenging mission and am looking forward to being in space again. I am proud to be part of an organisation like ESA that has been able to secure one long-duration flight opportunity every year for four years in a row. This is of great importance for the experience and knowledge we European astronauts can gain,” stated André Kuipers, who will resume training very soon.

Source: ESA