Roberto Vittori

Roberto Vittori, born on October fifteenth, nineteen sixty-four, is a distinguished Italian Air Force officer and a prominent astronaut with the European Space Agency (ESA). His journey began at the Italian Accademia Aeronautica, where he graduated in nineteen eighty-nine, subsequently serving in the Italian Air Force.

Vittori's passion for aviation led him to the United States, where he honed his skills as a test pilot. This rigorous training paved the way for his selection by the ESA in nineteen ninety-eight, allowing him to join the esteemed European Astronaut Corps.

Throughout his illustrious career, Vittori has participated in three significant spaceflights. He flew on the Soyuz TM-34/33 and Soyuz TMA-6/5 missions, which served as taxi flights to the International Space Station (ISS). Notably, he was also part of STS-134, the penultimate mission of the American Space Shuttle Program in two thousand eleven, marking him as the last non-American astronaut to fly aboard the Shuttle.