André Kuipers "Everybody in the space world was watching"

The only Dutch astronaut to fly into space twice, Kuipers also berthed a private spacecraft with the ISS for the first time

- Jonathan O'Callaghan

BIO

André Kuipers

Born 5 October 1958, Kuipers is a Dutch physician and ESA astronaut who has flown into space twice. His first mission in April 2004 was a short-duration stay on the International Space Station (ISS) for a week and a half. His second mission launched on 21 December 2011 and returned on 1 July 2012, during which time he was responsible for berthing SpaceX's Dragon, the first private vehicle to dock with the ISS.

Why did you decide to become an astronaut?

It all started when I was about 12 with some science-fiction books I had from my grandmother. That triggered my fantasy, but it was still a boy's dream. I grew up in the period that we landed on the Moon and launched Skylab, and then the Space Shuttle was built, so I saw all these beautiful pictures. And then the ESA was founded, and it had a Dutch astronaut. I thought 'hey, wait a minute, maybe it's not just a boy's dream adventure'. I saw a picture of John Young in the Space Shuttle with glasses, and I had been wearing glasses since I was 12, so I began to realize that these were normal people and not just test pilots.

What sort of training did you do for your first mission?

Because the ESA needed to select astronauts from smaller countries like Holland, there was initially no direct flight for us. I began training all by myself, and I did some basic training in Star City. I was studying orbital mechanics, planetary science, and some other basic stuff until Holland decided to sponsor my flight, and then I started training for the DELTA mission [on Soyuz TMA-4 in April 2004].

How did it feel to be selected for a mission?