Astronaut Thomas Pesquet
Thomas was launched to the International Space Station on 17 November 2016 for his six-month Proxima mission, as a flight engineer for Expeditions 50 and 51. Thomas was the 10th astronaut from France to head into space after a nine-year gap since ESA astronaut Léopold Eyharts during Expedition 16. His busy mission was the first to see all four cargo vehicles in operation at the time (HTV, Cygnus, Dragon and Progress) travelling to the Space Station.He tracked and captured two of them using the Station's robotic arm.
During his stay in space, he took part in over 50 experiments and the six crew members set a record for hours of time spent working on science. Other highlights of his mission included two spacewalks to maintain the Station: to replace batteries on an electrical channel.