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ROBERTO VITTORI
ESA ASTRONAUT
PERSONAL DATA: Born October 15, 1964 in Viterbo, Italy. He is married to the former Valeria Nardi of Citta’ di Castello, Italy. They have two children. He enjoys soccer, running and swimming.
EDUCATION: Graduated from the Italian Air Force Academy in 1989.
SPECIAL HONORS: Academic award at the Undergraduate Pilot Training, Reese Air Force Base, Texas; Honor student at the Test Pilot School, Patuxent River, Maryland; Honor student at the United States Flight Safety School, Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico.
EXPERIENCE: Graduated in 1989 from the Undergraduate Pilot Training, Reese Air Force Base, Texas, he flew operationally Tornado GR1 with the 155° Squadron, 50° Wing, Piacenza, Italy. Graduated from the U.S. Navy Test Pilot School in 1995, he served at the Italian Test Center as project pilot for the development of the new European aircraft, the EF2000. From 1996 he was national representative in the Beyond Visual Range Air-to-Air Missile (BVRAAM) research and development program. Graduated in 1997 from the U.S. Air Force Flight Safety School, he occupied the position of wing Flight Safety Officer at the Italian Test Center. He was a teacher of aerodynamics at the Accident Investigation Course of the Italian Air Force. He has logged over 1700 hours in over 40 different aircraft to include F-104, Tornado GR1, F-18, AMX, M-2000, G-222 and P-180.
NASA EXPERIENCE: In August 1998, he reported to the Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas. He attended Astronaut Candidate Training which included 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, Vittori then served in various technical assignments within the Astronaut Office. He has flown once and has logged over 10 days in space.
SPACE FLIGHT EXPERIENCE: From April 25 to May 5, 2002, Roberto Vittori participated in a taxi-flight to the International Space Station (ISS), under an agreement between the Russian Rosaviakosmos, the Italian Space Agency, ASI and ESA. During his stay aboard ISS he worked alongside the resident crew overseeing four European scientific experiments. The mission successfully delivered a new "lifeboat" to the Station for use by resident crews in the event of an on-board emergency.
JANUARY 2003
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