French engineer, helicopter pilot, and astronaut
Sophie Adenot (born 5 July 1982) is a French engineer, helicopter pilot, and astronaut. A French Air and Space Force helicopter pilot with the rank of lieutenant colonel , Adenot became France's first female helicopter test pilot in 2018. In 2022, she was chosen as a member of the European Astronaut Corps .
Early life and education
Sophie Adenot was born on 5 July 1982, in Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire , in Burgundy , France, to pharmacist Isabelle Adenot [fr ] (née Alloy ) and Hubert Adenot, a notary in Corbigny .[ 1] [ 2] [ 3] Her mother Isabelle was national president of the Ordre national des pharmaciens [fr ] , a professional order for pharmacists, from 2009 to 2017.[ 4] [ 5]
Adenot attended a maison d'éducation de la Légion d'honneur , secondary schools open to daughters of members of the National Order of the Legion of Honour , in Saint-Denis to obtain a baccalaureate, and then attended higher school preparatory classes (French : classe préparatoire aux grandes écoles ) to prepare for enrolment in one of the grande écoles .[ 6]
From 2001 to 2003, Adenot studied engineering at institut Supérieur de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace (ISAE-SUPAERO), in Toulouse , where she specialized in the flight dynamics of aircraft and spacecraft and earned a degree in 2004.[ 7] [ 8] [ 9] She earned a Master of Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge in 2004.[ 9] [ 8] She worked at MIT's Man-Vehicle Laboratory and wrote her thesis on how the vestibular system adapts to artificial gravity to develop centrifuge training for astronauts.[ 7] For one year after graduating from MIT, in 2004, she was employed as an engineer at Airbus Helicopters , in Marignane , to design helicopter cockpits , especially those of H225 helicopters.[ 6] [ 10] In 2018 she got a certificate in flight test dynamics at Cranfield University .
Career
Air force service
Promotional video produced by the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs (in French)
Adenot joined the French Air Force in 2005.[ 10] After receiving helicopter pilot training, she was assigned to the Escadron d'Hélicoptères 1/67 Pyrénées , stationed at Cazaux Air Base , where from 2008 to 2012 she piloted Caracal helicopters for search and rescue missions within hostile territory.[ 7] [ 10] [ 11] In 2012, she was assigned to the High Authority Transport Squadron, located in Villacoublay , responsible for transporting the head of state , ministers, and delegations from foreign nations.[ 7] [ 10]
In 2018, she entered the Empire Test Pilots' School (ETPS) in the United Kingdom as a trainee test pilot, graduating as the first female helicopter test pilot in France and receiving the McKenna Trophy for the best test pilot of the 2018 intake.[ 12] She also received a PgCert from Cranfield University in Flight Test and Flight Dynamics. After graduating from ETPS, she worked as a helicopter test pilot at Cazaux Air Base under the French Defence Procurement Agency from 2019 to 2022.[ 7] [ 10] As of 2022[update] , she has accumulated 3,000 flying hours across 22 types of helicopters.[ 13] [ 14]
Adenot earned the rank of lieutenant in the Air Force in August 2006,[ 15] and rose to the rank of captain three years later,[ 16] commandant in December 2014,[ 17] and lieutenant colonel in June 2020.[ 18]
Astronaut career
Adenot was selected to join the European Astronaut Corps as part of the 2022 European Space Agency Astronaut Group . Adenot is the second French woman to join the European Astronaut Corps, after Claudie Haigneré .[ 9] [ 14] [ 19] Adenot and the sixteen other members of the group were selected from 22,500 candidates.[ 20] Adenot was selected to be the first of her class ("The Hoppers") to fly to the ISS, estimated to launch in Spring 2026.[ 21]
Awards and honors
In 2020, Adenot was recognized by the Young Leaders program of the French-American Foundation .[ 22] [ 23] The following year, in 2021, she was awarded the Medal of the French National Assembly [fr ] for "actions as an inspiring ambassador for gender equality in sciences".[ 7] She was appointed a chevalier in the French National Order of Merit in 2022.[ 8]
References
^ Matthieu Delacharlery (23 November 2022). "Espace : qui est Sophie Adenot, la nouvelle astronaute française ?" [Space: who is Sophie Adenot, the new French astronaut?] (in French). TF1 . Retrieved 24 November 2022 .
^ "Les Imphycois, fiers de leur nouvelle astronaute : « Je souhaite tout le bonheur du monde à Sophie Adenot »" [People of Imphy, proud of their new astronaut: "I wish all the happiness in the world to Sophie Adenot"]. Le Journal du Centre [fr ] (in French). 24 November 2022. Retrieved 30 November 2022 .
^ Who's Who in France , 2020 edition, p. 77.
^ Ramspacher, Marie-Sophie (6 July 2009). "Isabelle Adenot" . Les Echos (in French). Retrieved 30 January 2023 .
^ Bonte, Marie (21 March 2017). "Isabelle Adenot quitte l'Ordre" . Le Quotidien du pharmacien [fr ] (in French). Retrieved 30 January 2023 .
^ a b Marion Simon-Rainaud (29 November 2022). "L'astronaute Sophie Adenot, une prof de yoga bientôt dans l'ISS" [Astronaut Sophie Adenot, a yoga teacher soon to be on the ISS]. Les Échos (in French). Retrieved 30 November 2022 .
^ a b c d e f "Sophie Adenot" . esa.int . Retrieved 27 December 2022 .
^ a b c Lucie BRAS (23 November 2022). "Qui est Sophie Adenot, la nouvelle astronaute française qui rejoint l'Agence spatiale européenne ?" [Who is Sophie Adenot, the new French astronaut joining the European Space Agency?]. Ouest-France (in French). Retrieved 27 December 2022 .
^ a b c "Who is Sophie Adenot, the French engineer destined for space?" . Radio France Internationale . 24 November 2022. Retrieved 27 November 2022 .
^ a b c d e Pierre Barthélémy (27 November 2022). "Meet Sophie Adenot, the second French woman astronaut in history" . Le Monde . Retrieved 25 December 2022 .
^ Marceau Bonnecaze (21 November 2011). "Hommage de la nation à l'escadron d'hélicoptères" [Nation's tribute to helicopter squadron]. Sud Ouest (in French). Retrieved 30 November 2022 .
^ "ETPS Astronauts" . QinetiQ . Retrieved 27 November 2023 .
^ Camille Hazard (24 November 2022). "Sophie Adenot, maman, pilote d'hélicoptère et astronaute" [Sophie Adenot, mother, helicopter pilot and astronaut]. Paris Match (in French). Retrieved 24 November 2022 .
^ a b "L'astronaute française Sophie Adenot intègre la nouvelle promotion de l'Agence spatiale européenne" [French astronaut Sophie Adenot joins the new class of the European Space Agency]. Le Monde (in French). 23 November 2022. Retrieved 28 November 2022 . Diplômée de l'Institut supérieur de l'aéronautique et de l'espace, l'ingénieure Sophie Adenot, lieutenante-colonelle de l'armée de l'air, a été la première femme pilote d'essai d'hélicoptères, avec 3 000 heures de vol à son compteur. [A graduate of the Higher Institute of Aeronautics and Space, engineer Sophie Adenot, Lieutenant-Colonel of the Air Force, is the first female helicopter test pilot, with 3,000 flight hours on her counter.]
^ Décret du 23 octobre 2006 portant nomination et promotion dans l'armée active
^ Décret du 24 août 2009 portant nomination et promotion dans l'armée active
^ Décret du 11 décembre 2014 portant nomination et promotion dans l'armée active
^ Décret du 26 mai 2020 portant nomination et promotion dans l'armée active
^ "Espace : Sophie Adenot devient la deuxième astronaute française, plus de vingt ans après Claudie Haigneré" [Space: Sophie Adenot becomes the second French astronaut, more than twenty years after Claudie Haigneré]. France Info (in French). 23 November 2022. Retrieved 23 November 2022 .
^ "ESA presents new generation of ESA astronauts" . European Space Agency . 23 November 2022. Retrieved 30 November 2022 .
^ European Space Agency, ESA (16 May 2024). First Space Station missions for new ESA astronauts . Retrieved 22 May 2024 – via YouTube.
^ Thomas Hory (28 July 2020). "Portrait : le lieutenant-colonel Adenot sélectionnée pour le programme Young Leaders (French-American Foundation)" [Portrait: Lieutenant-Colonel Adenot selected for the Young Leaders program (French-American Foundation)] (in French). Ministry of Armed Forces . Retrieved 30 November 2022 .
^ "Promotion 2020 - Les Young Leaders français" (in French). French-American Foundation . Retrieved 30 November 2022 .