Lucerne. The European Space Agency’s Italian astronaut (ESA), Luca Parmitano, was nominated for a chance to fly to the ISS in May 2019. The announcement came from the ESA DG, Jan Woerner at the European Space Agency ministerial council meeting that took place in Lucerne. The formal decision will be made in the spring of 2017 by the Multilateral Crew Operations Panel (MCOP) which is the main forum for coordination and resolution of issues relating to the space station crew. Luca Parmitano received the NASA Distinguished Service Medal in recognition of his levelheadedness demonstrated during the spacewalk, which was discontinued due to a water leak in his helmet. (9Colonne)
