Pedro Duque, born March 14, 1963 in Madrid, Spain, is the first Spanish-born astronaut in space.
Duque's first flight was aboard Discovery (STS-95) as mission specialist for the European Space Agency in October-November 1998. He spent almost 10 days in space.
His second and final flight was aboard Soyuz TMA-3 to the International Space Station launched in October 2003 as Flight Engineer. He remained on board for about 10 days and returned to Earth aboard Soyuz TMA-2.
After retiring from the ESA, he became the Minister of Science for the Government of Spain.
Cosmonaut Aleksandr Kaleri, born May 13, 1956 in present-day Latvia, ranks fourth in time spent in space.
His first flight was as Flight Engineer on Soyuz TM-14 to the Mir space station in March 1992. He spent over 145 days in space as part of Mir EO-11.
His second flight was as Flight Engineer on Soyuz TM-24 to Mir in August 1996. He spent over 196 days in space as part of Mir EO-22.
His third flight was aboard Soyuz TM-30 as Flight Engineer to Mir in April 2000. He spent over 72 days in space as part of Mir EO-28.
His fourth flight was as Commander of Soyuz TMA-3 to the International Space Station in October 2003. He participated in Expedition 8 and spent over 194 days in space.
His fifth and final flight was aboard Soyuz TMA-01M as commander to the International Space Station. He participated in Expeditions 25-26, spending over 159 days in space.
In total, he has spent more than 769 days in space, which is over 2 years!
Michael Foale, born January 6, 1957 in Lincolnshire, England, is a veteran of six space missions. He is the only NASA astronaut to have spent extended missions on Mir and the International Space Station. He is the first Briton to perform a spacewalk and holds the record for time-in-space for a UK citizen.
His first mission was aboard Atlantis (STS-45) as mission specialist in March-April 1992.
His second mission was aboard Discovery (STS-56) as mission specialist in April 1993.
His third mission was aboard Discovery (STS-63) as mission specialist in February 1995. It was the first space shuttle mission to dock with Mir. He conducted his first EVA with fellow astronaut Bernard Harris, the first African-American astronaut to conduct an EVA.
His fourth mission was aboard Atlantis (STS-84) as mission specialist to Mir launched in May 1997. He was part of expeditions Mir EO-23 and Mir EO-24. He returned to Earth aboard Atlantis (STS-86) in October 1997.
His fifth flight was aboard Discovery (STS-103) as mission specialist to service the Hubble Space Telescope in December 1999. He conducted an EVA with fellow astronaut Claude Nicollier.
His sixth and final mission was aboard Soyuz TMA-3 to the ISS launched in October 2003 as part of Expedition 8. He conducted an EVA with fellow astronaut Aleksandr Kaleri. He returned to Earth in April 2004.
Soyuz TMA-3 crew (L-R): Pedro Duque, Aleksandr Kaleri, Michael Foale
Mission patch
Soyuz TMA-3, launched October 18, 2003, was the seventh trip to the International Space Station. Its crew consisted of Commander Aleksandr Kaleri (Roscosmos), Michael Foale (British astronaut, NASA) and Pedro Duque (Spanish astronaut, ESA). Kaleri and Foale were part of Expedition 8, but Pedro Duque returned on Soyuz TMA-2 about a week later.
Kaleri and Foale returned to Earth in April 2004 with Andre Kuipers (Dutch astronaut, ESA) after more than 194 days.
Andre Kuipers, born October 5, 1958 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, is the second Dutch citizen and the third Dutch-born astronaut in space. The first Dutch-born astronaut, Lodewijk van den Berg was born in Zeeland but had become a U.S. citizen when he flew on the Space Shuttle, so was no longer a Dutch citizen.
Kuipers was accepted into the ESA Astronaut Corps in 1998. His first trip into space was aboard Soyuz TMA-4 in April 2004 to the International Space Station. He conducted 21 experiments in just 11 days before returning to Earth aboard Soyuz TMA-3.
He returned to space December 2011 aboard Soyuz TMA-03M to the ISS as the Flight Engineer and Medical Crew Officer. He remained until July 1, 2012 when he returned to Earth.
