Michel Ange-Charles Tognini (born September 30, 1949 in Vincennes, France) is a French test pilot, Brigadier General in the French Air Force, and a former CNES and ESA astronaut. A veteran of two space flights, Tognini has logged a total of 19 days in space.
Soyuz TM-14 was the 14th mission and the 11th long-duration expedition to Mir space station. It was the first mission after the USSR collapsed, and so became the first Russian space flight. The mission began on March 17, 1992, 10:54:30 UTC, launching Commander Alexander Viktorenko, Flight Engineer Alexander Kaleri and Research Cosmonaut Klaus-Dietrich Flade into orbit. They docked with Mir two days later. During their stay there, cosmonauts performed an EVA, various station repair and maintenance tasks, and carried out scientific experiments in materials research, space technology, astrophysics and earth observation. They were visited by several Progress resupply spacecrafts, and welcomed aboard the Soyuz TM-15 crew. The mission concluded with a safe landing back on Earth on August 10, 1992, 01:05:02 UTC.
Low Earth OrbitSoyuz TM-15 was the 15th mission and the 12th long-duration expedition to Mir space station. The mission began on July 27, 1992, 06:08:42 UTC, launching Commander Anatoly Solovyev, Flight Engineer Sergei Avdeyev and Research Cosmonaut Michel Tognini into orbit. They docked with Mir two days later. During their stay there, cosmonauts performed EVAs, various station repair and maintenance tasks, and carried out scientific experiments in materials research, space technology, astrophysics and earth observation. They were visited by several Progress resupply spacecrafts, and welcomed aboard the Soyuz TM-16 crew. The mission concluded with a safe landing back on Earth on February 1, 1993, 03:49:57 UTC.
Low Earth OrbitSTS-93 marked the 95th launch of the Space Shuttle, the 26th launch of Columbia, and the 21st night launch of a Space Shuttle. Eileen Collins became the first female shuttle Commander on this flight. Its primary payload was the Chandra X-ray Observatory.
Low Earth OrbitThe European Space Agency is an intergovernmental organisation of 22 member states. Established in 1975 and headquartered in Paris, France, ESA has a worldwide staff of about 2,000 employees. ESA's space flight programme includes human spaceflight (mainly through participation in the International Space Station program); the launch and operation of unmanned exploration missions to other planets and the Moon; Earth observation, science and telecommunication; designing launch vehicles; and maintaining a major spaceport, the Guiana Space Centre at Kourou, French Guiana.