French astronaut Sophie Adenot prepares to make space history

French astronaut Sophie Adenot is preparing to make history on her first trip to space – a long-duration mission to the International Space Station (ISS) – expected to begin on Thursday or Friday next week (February 12-13). 

The 43-year-old, originally from Nièvre in central France, is scheduled to launch aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft with her Crew-12 crewmates from Florida, where she is currently in quarantine and making final preparations. 

She will be only the second French woman to travel into space, after Claudie Haigneré in 1996, and her planned nine-month stay in space will be the longest for any European astronaut.

Her mission has been named εpsilon for the mathematical term commonly used to denote a small positive quantity. Its title is intended to convey the message that many small contributions can have a big impact.

The mission will involve research and technology tests and follows a recent early evacuation of four previous ISS crew members for medical reasons.

After the European Space Agency (ESA) decided to recruit a ‘new generation’ of European astronauts in 2021, over 20,000 people applied – with Ms Adenot being among just five selected to become career astronauts (12 were put on a reserve list). 

She was the only French person selected and has completed two years and nine months of training in preparation.

In her prior career she was a lieutenant colonel in the air force where her roles included working in engineering and as a helicopter test pilot. However, going into space has been a childhood dream since the age of 14 when she saw coverage of Haigneré’s mission.

"Being a French and European astronaut on board is an honour I carry with gratitude and humility,” she said. “With this εpsilon mission, France and Europe are contributing to a global endeavour. Space exploration connects science, economy, technology, education, and diplomacy. It strengthens international cooperation and it reminds us that progress is greatest when nations work together."

She has said becoming an astronaut represents “pushing back the limits” and that she feels “serene, concentrated and curious – curious because on any mission there are a lot of uncertainties”.

She has said she hopes her mission will inspire more young people, and especially girls who are under-represented, to consider scientific and aerospace careers. 

To help with this, a scheme has been launched whereby pupils in 4,500 French schools will be trying to reproduce in the classroom some of the same experiments she will do on board, so as to compare results on Earth and in space

The launch is expected to see Ms Adenot travel aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule alongside NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway and Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev.

Once in orbit, she will undertake a wide range of roles, one of which will be doing research and tests aimed at understanding effects of space travel on the human body in areas such as muscle loss, or exposure to rays, as well as the psychological effects of being confined in a small space.

She will also analyse the presence of contamination from biological micro-organisms in the craft and test an ultrasound machine designed for diagnoses which can be operated by non-medically trained astronauts (back on Earth, it is hoped it could also be used in some ‘medical desert’ areas). She will also try to germinate plants.

While on board, she will mostly be eating a diet of preserved or freeze-dried foods, aimed at balanced nutrition, not flavour – however she was able to request some ‘bonus’ meals designed by three-Michelin-star chef Anne-Sophie Pic.

They include a poultry dish with voatsiperifery pepper from Madagascar, tonka bean and creamy polenta with comté as well as chocolate cream with coffee and fleur de Cazette – crushed, roasted fresh Burgundy hazelnuts. The dishes have been packed into sterilised pouches to ensure long life.