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Paolo Alberto Nespoli
Status: Active. Trained as: Astronaut. Profession: Mission Specialist. Sex: M. Marital Status: Single. Birth Date: 06 April 1957. Birth City: Milan. Birth Country: Italy. Nationality: Italian. Group: 1998 ESA Group. Date Selected: 27 August 1998.
Official NASA Biography
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NAME: Paolo Angelo Nespoli
- ESA Astronaut (Mission Specialist Candidate)
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PERSONAL DATA:
- Born April 6, 1957 in Milan, Italy. His hometown is Verano Brianza, Milan, Italy, where his mother Maria, father Luigi, brother Raoul and sisters Antonella and Lia live. He is single. Recreational interests include SCUBA diving, aircraft piloting, assembly of computer hardware and electronic equipment, computer software.
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EDUCATION:
- In 1977, he graduated from the Liceo Scientifico Statale Paolo Frisi of Desio, Milano, Italy. In 1988, he received a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering from the Polytechnic University of New York and, in 1989, received a Master of Science in Aeronautics and Astronautics from the same institution. In 1990, the Universit� degli Studi di Firenze, Italy, recognized a Laurea in Ingegneria Meccanica.
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QUALIFICATIONS - LICENSES:
- Civilian: Professional Engineer, Private Pilot, Advanced SCUBA Diver, NitrOx diver. Military: Master Parachutist, Parachutist Instructor, Jump Master, High Altitude Low Opening, Demolition expert, Special Forces operator.
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AWARDS:
- Team Achievement Awards for: Space Mission Mir97 (German Space Agency), Space Mission EUROMIR 95 (European Space Agency), NASA-Mir Program (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), Space Mission EUROMIR 94 (European Space Agency), Bed Rest Experiment (European Space Agency � French Space Agency), Columbus Utilization Simulation (European Space Agency).
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EXPERIENCE:
- Nespoli was drafted by the Italian Army in 1977, and became a non-commissioned officer working as a parachute instructor at the Scuola Militare di Paracadutismo of Pisa. In 1980, he joined the 9� Btg d'Assalto "Col Moschin" of Livorno where he became a Special Forces operator. From 1982 to 1984, he was assigned to the Italian contingent of the Multinational Peacekeeping Force in Beirut, Lebanon. Following his return to Italy, he was appointed an officer and continued working as a Special Forces operator. He resumed college studies in 1985. Nespoli left Army active duty in 1987. In 1988 and 1989, he obtained a BS and an MS from the Polytechnic University of New York. He returned to Italy in 1989 to work as a design engineer for Proel Tecnologie in Florence, where he conducted mechanical analysis and supported the qualification of the flight units of the Electron Gun Assembly, one of the main parts of the Italian Space Agency's Tethered Satellite System (TSS). In 1991, he joined the Astronaut Training Division , European Astronaut Centre, European Space Agency (ESA), Cologne, Germany. As an astronaut training engineer, he contributed to the preparation and implementation of European astronaut basic training and he was responsible for the preparation and management of astronaut proficiency maintenance. He was also responsible for the Astronaut Training Database, a software system used for the preparation and management of astronaut training. In 1995, he was detached to ESA's EUROMIR Project in the European Space Technology Centre, Noordwijk, The Netherlands, where he was responsible for the team that prepared, integrated and supported the Payload and Crew Support Computer used on the Russian space station Mir. Detached to NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas in 1996, he worked in the Spaceflight Training Division on the preparation of training for the ground and in-orbit crew of the International Space Station. Following his selection in July 1998 by the Italian Space Agency, he was sent to the European Space Agency where he joined the European Astronaut Corps.
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NASA EXPERIENCE:
- In August 1998, he reported to the Johnson Space Center , Houston, Texas. He is currently attending Astronaut Candidate Training which includes orientation briefings and tours, numerous scientific and technical briefings, intensive instruction in Shuttle and International Space Station systems, physiological training and ground school to prepare for T-38 flight training, as well as learning water and wilderness survival techniques. Following a period of training and evaluation, Nespoli will receive technical assignments within the Astronaut Office before being assigned to a space flight.
OCTOBER 1998
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Last update 3 May 2001.
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