Jean-François Clervoy
Encyclopedia
Jean-François André Clervoy (born 19 November 1958) is a French
engineer
and test pilot and an CNES
and ESA astronaut
. He is a veteran of three NASA
Space Shuttle
missions.
. He therefore considers himself as Lorrain Mosellan, but also as Toulousain by adoption. He has a twin brother, Patrick, a military physician. He is married to the former Laurence Boulanger. They have two children. Clervoy enjoys racquet sports, skill games, canyoning, skiing, and flying activities such as boomerang, frisbee, kites.
He graduated from high-school in Saint-Cyr Lycee, and then joined a class for preparation of "Grandes Ecoles
" being admitted to the Ecole Polytechnique
. Later he joined the SUPAERO engineering school and finally he was accepted at the EPNER
(Ecole du Personnel Navigant d'Essais et Reception) a test pilot/engineer school based in Istres
(south of France). There he trained as a test engineer.
He is a member of Association of Space Explorers
and a distinguished member of the French Aeronautics and Astronautics Association.
From 1987 until 1992 he directed the Parabolic Flight Programme at the Flight Test Centre, Brétigny-sur-Orge and provided technical support to the European Manned Space Programmes within the ESA Hermes crew office.
From 1983 to 1987, Clervoy was also a lecturer in signal processing and general mechanics at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure de l' Aéronautique et de l' Espace, Toulouse. Jean-François holds a commission as Ingénieur en Chef de l' Armement in the DGA.
In 1991, he trained in Star City, Moscow, on the Soyuz and Mit systems. In 1992, he joined the astronaut corps of the European Space Agency
(ESA) at the European Astronaut Centre (EAC) in Cologne.
Clervoy was detached to the NASA Johnson Space Center/Houston in August 1992 to gain Space Shuttle mission specialist qualifications. In between his space flights, Clervoy was assigned as flight software verification lead in the Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory (SAIL) and as robotics display design lead for Shuttle and Station. After his third space flight, he provided collateral duties in the NASA-JSC Astronaut Office on “International Space Station display integration lead” within the Space Station Operations Branch.
He flew twice aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis and once aboard Discovery for a total of 675 hours in space.
Clervoy holds military and civilian parachuting licenses, military and civilian scuba-diving licenses, and private pilot license.
Clervoy is a member of ESA's European Astronaut Corps, whose homebase is the European Astronaut Centre (EAC) located in Cologne, Germany. He is currently seconded to the ATV (Automated Transfer Vehicle) ESA project as Senior Advisor Astronaut in Les Mureaux (France). He is also president of Novespace, the European company which provides zero-g flights with an Airbus A300.
STS-84 Atlantis (15-24 May 1997), was NASA’s sixth Shuttle mission to rendezvous and dock with the Russian Space Station Mir. As the Payload Commander, Clervoy’s primary tasks were the coordination of the execution of more than 20 experiments, the operation of the docking system and the double module SPACEHAB, and the transfer of 4 tons of equipment between Atlantis and Mir. He was also trained as a contingency spacewalker on this mission. STS-84 was accomplished in 144 Earth orbits, traveling 3.6 million miles in.221 hours and 20 minutes.
STS-103 Discovery (19-27 December 1999), was an 8-day mission during which the crew successfully installed new instruments and upgraded systems on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Clervoy was the flight engineer for ascent, entry and rendezvous. He used the robot arm to capture and deploy the telescope, and to maneuver the suited astronauts during 3 eight hour long spacewalks required to repair and upgrade the telescope. The STS-103 mission was accomplished in 120 Earth orbits, traveling 3.2 million miles in 191 hours and 11 minutes.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
engineer
Engineer
An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
and test pilot and an CNES
CNES
The is the French government space agency . Established under President Charles de Gaulle in 1961, its headquarters are located in central Paris and it is under the supervision of the French Ministries of Defence and Research...
and ESA astronaut
Astronaut
An astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft....
. He is a veteran of three NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
Space Shuttle
Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons...
missions.
Personal life
Clervoy was born 19 November 1958 in Longeville-lès-Metz, FranceLongeville-lès-Metz
Longeville-lès-Metz is a commune in the Moselle department in Lorraine in north-eastern France.-See also:*Communes of the Moselle department...
. He therefore considers himself as Lorrain Mosellan, but also as Toulousain by adoption. He has a twin brother, Patrick, a military physician. He is married to the former Laurence Boulanger. They have two children. Clervoy enjoys racquet sports, skill games, canyoning, skiing, and flying activities such as boomerang, frisbee, kites.
Education
Received his baccalauréat from Collège Militaire de Saint Cyr l' Ecole in 1976; passed Math. Sup. and Math. Spé. M' at Prytanée Militaire, La Flèche in 1978. Graduated from Ecole Polytechnique, Paris, in 1981; graduated from Ecole Nationale Supérieure de l' Aéronautique et de l' Espace, Toulouse, in 1983; graduated as a Flight Test Engineer from Ecole du Personnel Navigant d' Essais et de Réception, Istres, in 1987.He graduated from high-school in Saint-Cyr Lycee, and then joined a class for preparation of "Grandes Ecoles
Grandes écoles
The grandes écoles of France are higher education establishments outside the main framework of the French university system. The grandes écoles select students for admission based chiefly on national ranking in competitive written and oral exams...
" being admitted to the Ecole Polytechnique
École Polytechnique
The École Polytechnique is a state-run institution of higher education and research in Palaiseau, Essonne, France, near Paris. Polytechnique is renowned for its four year undergraduate/graduate Master's program...
. Later he joined the SUPAERO engineering school and finally he was accepted at the EPNER
EPNER
EPNER, is the French test pilot school, based at the Istres Le Tube Airbase, France. One of the four main test pilot schools in the western hemisphere, EPNER maintains close links with the other three schools; The Empire Test Pilot's School ; The United States Air Force Test Pilot School and The...
(Ecole du Personnel Navigant d'Essais et Reception) a test pilot/engineer school based in Istres
Istres
Istres is a commune in southern France, some 60 km northwest of Marseille. It is in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, of which it is a subprefecture...
(south of France). There he trained as a test engineer.
He is a member of Association of Space Explorers
Association of Space Explorers
The Association of Space Explorers is a non-profit organization with a membership composed of people who have completed at least one Earth orbit in space . It was founded in 1985, and the current membership stands at 320 from 34 different countries...
and a distinguished member of the French Aeronautics and Astronautics Association.
Astronaut career
Clervoy was seconded from the Délégation Générale pour L' Armement (DGA) to CNES (French Space Agency) when he was selected in the second group of French astronauts in 1985 and started an intensive Russian language training.From 1987 until 1992 he directed the Parabolic Flight Programme at the Flight Test Centre, Brétigny-sur-Orge and provided technical support to the European Manned Space Programmes within the ESA Hermes crew office.
From 1983 to 1987, Clervoy was also a lecturer in signal processing and general mechanics at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure de l' Aéronautique et de l' Espace, Toulouse. Jean-François holds a commission as Ingénieur en Chef de l' Armement in the DGA.
In 1991, he trained in Star City, Moscow, on the Soyuz and Mit systems. In 1992, he joined the astronaut corps of the European Space Agency
European Space Agency
The European Space Agency , established in 1975, is an intergovernmental organisation dedicated to the exploration of space, currently with 18 member states...
(ESA) at the European Astronaut Centre (EAC) in Cologne.
Clervoy was detached to the NASA Johnson Space Center/Houston in August 1992 to gain Space Shuttle mission specialist qualifications. In between his space flights, Clervoy was assigned as flight software verification lead in the Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory (SAIL) and as robotics display design lead for Shuttle and Station. After his third space flight, he provided collateral duties in the NASA-JSC Astronaut Office on “International Space Station display integration lead” within the Space Station Operations Branch.
He flew twice aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis and once aboard Discovery for a total of 675 hours in space.
Clervoy holds military and civilian parachuting licenses, military and civilian scuba-diving licenses, and private pilot license.
Clervoy is a member of ESA's European Astronaut Corps, whose homebase is the European Astronaut Centre (EAC) located in Cologne, Germany. He is currently seconded to the ATV (Automated Transfer Vehicle) ESA project as Senior Advisor Astronaut in Les Mureaux (France). He is also president of Novespace, the European company which provides zero-g flights with an Airbus A300.
Spaceflight experience
STS-66 Atlantis (3-14 November 1994), the Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science-3 (ATLAS-3) mission was part of an ongoing program to determine the Earth's energy balance and atmospheric change over an eleven-year solar cycle. Clervoy used the robotic arm to deploy the CRISTA-SPAS atmospheric research satellite 20 hours after lift-off. The mission was accomplished in 175 Earth orbits, traveling 4.5 million miles in 262 hours and 34 minutes.STS-84 Atlantis (15-24 May 1997), was NASA’s sixth Shuttle mission to rendezvous and dock with the Russian Space Station Mir. As the Payload Commander, Clervoy’s primary tasks were the coordination of the execution of more than 20 experiments, the operation of the docking system and the double module SPACEHAB, and the transfer of 4 tons of equipment between Atlantis and Mir. He was also trained as a contingency spacewalker on this mission. STS-84 was accomplished in 144 Earth orbits, traveling 3.6 million miles in.221 hours and 20 minutes.
STS-103 Discovery (19-27 December 1999), was an 8-day mission during which the crew successfully installed new instruments and upgraded systems on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Clervoy was the flight engineer for ascent, entry and rendezvous. He used the robot arm to capture and deploy the telescope, and to maneuver the suited astronauts during 3 eight hour long spacewalks required to repair and upgrade the telescope. The STS-103 mission was accomplished in 120 Earth orbits, traveling 3.2 million miles in 191 hours and 11 minutes.
Awards and honors
- NASA Space Flight MedalNASA Space Flight MedalThe NASA Space Flight Medal is a decoration of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. According to its statutes, it is awarded "for significant achievement or service during individual participation as a civilian or military astronaut, pilot, mission specialist, payload specialist, or...
s (three) - NASA Exceptional Service MedalNASA Exceptional Service MedalThe NASA Exceptional Service Medal is an award granted to U.S. government employees for significant sustained performance characterized by unusual initiative or creative ability that clearly demonstrates substantial improvement in engineering, aeronautics, space flight, administration, support, or...
s (two) - Officier de l' Ordre National de la Légion d' Honneur,
- Chevalier de l' Ordre National du Mérite
- Komarov and Koroliev Awards from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale.