Arnaud Prost

Arnaud Prost
Prost in 2022
Born
Arnaud Maurice Michel Prost

(1992-11-06) November 6, 1992 (age 32)
NationalityFrench
Alma materLycée Thiers
École Polytechnique
Occupations
  • Engineer
  • test pilot
  • astronaut
Known forAstronaut of the European Space Agency

Arnaud Maurice Michel Prost (born November 6, 1992) is a French engineer, test pilot, professional diver, and astronaut reservist in the European Astronaut Corps.[1]

Early life and education

Prost entered École Polytechnique in 2012, after completing two years of preparatory classes in physics and chemistry at Lycée Thiers in Marseille.[2] He underwent his initial military training as a Polytechnician officer candidate (EOX) in the French Army, being assigned the rank of aspirant and trained at the 1st Parachute Hussar Regiment. He obtained his military parachutist badge and began a career in sport parachuting, completing over 200 freefall jumps. Upon graduation, he was promoted to second lieutenant.[1] He conducted research at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, studying potential landing sites for the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover.[1]

From 2015 to 2016, he worked as a professional diver and engineer at the Space and Innovation Department of the COMEX in Marseille, as part of the Moonwalk project, focusing on underwater Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA) simulations and astronaut-robot cooperation in analog environments.

In 2016, he was appointed as an engineer in the French Armament Corps[3] within the Direction générale de l'armement (DGA).

In 2017, he received his engineering degree from ISAE-SUPAERO (conception and operation of space systems) and a master's degree in astrophysics, space sciences, and planetology from the Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier University. He conducted research at the Skobeltsyn Institute of Nuclear Physics at Moscow State University and the Moscow Aviation Institute in Russia.[1][4]

From 2017 to 2020, he underwent pilot training in the French Air and Space Force and obtained his fighter pilot certificate.[1]

Career

Since 2020, Prost has been assigned to the DGA Flight Tests Expertise Center in Istres. He initially worked on developing new features for flight simulators, using artificial intelligence in air combat, and preparing for future test campaigns of the Future Combat Air System (FCAS).[4]

Since the summer of 2022, he has been a member of the integrated flight test team for the Rafale combat aircraft program under the command of AI Magalie Gibergues, consisting of military and civilian pilot and navigator engineers. He has worked on Rafale's human-machine interfaces.

He also holds a commercial pilot license (CPL)[1] and is qualified as a pilot in the technical corps of the DGA.

Astronautics

In November 2022, Prost was selected for the European Astronaut Corps of the European Space Agency (ESA) as a reserve astronaut.[5] As such, he remains in his current position but must spend four to five weeks per year at the Astronaut Centre for training, scientific experiments, or communication operations.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Arnaud Prost". www.esa.int. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
  2. ^ "Arnaud Prost (X12) rejoint la nouvelle promotion d'astronautes de l'Agence spatiale européenne | Association des anciens élèves et diplômés de l'École polytechnique - AX". AX POLYTECHNIQUE (in French). Retrieved 19 April 2024.
  3. ^ Décret du 23 novembre 2016 portant nomination dans l'armée active, retrieved 19 April 2024
  4. ^ a b "Avec Sophie Adenot et Arnaud Prost, nouveaux astronautes de l'ESA, l'expertise de la DGA rayonne". www.defense.gouv.fr. 23 November 2022. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
  5. ^ Gévaudan, Camille. "Sophie Adenot et Arnaud Prost, deux Français dans la nouvelle promotion d'astronautes de l'Agence spatiale européenne". Libération (in French). Retrieved 19 April 2024.
  6. ^ "«On sait que les places sont chères» : Arnaud Prost, astronaute réserviste de luxe, a les pieds sur terre". leparisien.fr (in French). 5 December 2022. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Arnaud Prost.