Parmitano, Luca Salvo

Luca Parmitano was born in a family of teachers ^[1] on September 27, 1976 in the city of Paterno , in the province of Catania on the island of Sicily . In 1995 he graduated from the Galileo Galilei Scientific and Technical Lyceum in the city of Catania ^{[2] [3]} and entered the University of Naples named after Frederick II . In 1999, he received a bachelor's degree in political science ^[4] .

In 2000, he graduated from the in Pozzuoli . In 2001, he underwent basic flight training for a jet pilot of NATO countries at the US Sheppard Air Force Base in Texas ^[4] . Since 2001 he was a pilot of the light tactical turbojet attack aircraft AMX in the 13th squadron of the 32nd air wing in the city of Amendola (Italy). He received the qualification of a combat pilot and a specialist in day and night refueling of aircraft in the air, was appointed commander of an air link, and then commander of a specialized airmobile group ^{[3] [4]} . In 2002, he completed a flight training course in the contingent of the US Air Force in Europe at the Sembach air base in Germany . In 2003, at the Pratica di Mare airbase near Rome, he was qualified as an electronic warfare officer. In 2005, he completed the tactical command training program at the Florence base in Belgium ^{[2] [3]} .

On May 11, 2005, a large bird crashed into the AMX aircraft, which captain Luca Parmitano flew over the English Channel (later defined as a stork) ^{[1] [5]} . The hull of the aircraft was severely damaged by the impact. Parmitano, in conditions of poor visibility, malfunctioning radio communications and disruption of air navigation, managed to return the plane to the ground, refusing to eject . On January 25, 2007, the pilot was awarded for the courage shown by Italian President Giorgio Napolitano with the silver medal “For Valiant Service in Aviation” ^{[6] [5]} .

In 2007, he was selected by the Italian Air Force as a test pilot. The training was held at the French school of test pilots in Istra , France . It has a flying time of over 2000 hours on more than 40 types of aircraft. He mastered more than 20 types of military aircraft and helicopters ^[2] . In July 2009, Luca Parmitano received a master's degree in the design of test equipment for experimental flights at the in Toulouse , France ^{[4] [2]} .

In 2019, promoted to colonel of the Italian Air Force ^[4] .

On May 20, 2009, Luca Parmitano was selected to the astronaut squad of the European Space Agency (ESA) during the fourth set. He completed a full course of general space training and on November 22, 2010 at the European Center for the Training of Astronauts in Cologne ( Germany ), received a certificate of astronaut ESA. In the fall of 2010, he completed an internship at the Lyndon Johnson Space Center in the USA ^{[2] [3]} .

In January 2011, he began training at the Yu.A. Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center as part of the ISS-34 / 35 backup crew of space expeditions as a flight engineer of the Soyuz TMA-M manned spacecraft and flight engineer of the International Space Station. In August 2011, as part of a conditional crew, he took part in “marine” training at the Emergencies Ministry training center near Noginsk . In November 2012, pre-flight examination training was held on the ISS Russian segment and on the Soyuz TMA spacecraft simulator. On November 29, 2012, together with cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin and astronaut Karen Nayberg , Luke Parmitano was approved as a flight engineer for the backup crew of the Soyuz TMA-07M spacecraft. On December 19, 2012, during a stratum from the Baikonur cosmodrome of the Soyuz TMA-07M spacecraft, he was an understudy for a flight engineer ^[3] .

Since December 2012, he was preparing for a space flight as part of the ISS-36 / 37 main crew as a flight engineer of the Soyuz TMA-M and the ISS. On May 27, 2013, by the decision of the State Commission, he was approved as flight engineer of the main crew of the Soyuz TMA-09M transport manned spacecraft ^[2] .

On May 29, 2013 at 0:31 Moscow time, Luka Parmitano started with cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin (crew commander) and astronaut Karen Nayberg from Baikonur cosmodrome as flight engineer of the Soyuz TMA-09M spacecraft and flight crew engineer of the International Space Station under the ISS- program 36/37 of the main space expeditions. The flight took place according to the four-turn approach scheme with the ISS. At 05:10 on May 30, the ship docked to the Rassvet small research module of the ISS Russian segment ^{[7] [8]} .

On July 9, 2013, Luca Parmitano, together with NASA astronaut Christopher Cassidy, made a spacewalk . The astronauts carried out repair and restoration work on the Bort-Earth transceiver unit on the outer surface of the ISS, replaced the wireless rotary video equipment and laid the power supply cables for the Russian multi-purpose laboratory module “ Science ”. Spacewalk lasted 6 hours 7 minutes ^[9] . Parmitano became the first Italian astronaut to go into outer space ^[10] .

On July 16, 2013, during the second spacewalk of astronauts L. Parmitano and C. Cassidy, an emergency occurred to carry out the deployment of a local cable network around the ISS. An hour after the start of work, water began to flow into Parmitano's spacesuit , most of which was in a helmet, which caused the astronaut to have difficulty seeing and breathing. NASA ordered both astronauts to interrupt their planned six-hour spacewalk and return to the station ^{[11] [12]} . The duration of spacewalk was 1 hour 32 minutes ^[9] .

On November 1, Parmitano took part in a 20-minute flight on the Soyuz TMA-09M spacecraft during its re-launch from the Dawn module to the Zvezda module ^[13] .

On November 11, 2013 at 6:49 Moscow time, the descent vehicle of the Soyuz TMA-09M manned spacecraft with crew and an Olympic torch on board safely landed in Kazakhstan near the city of Dzhezkazgan ^[14] .

During the flight, Parmitano spent more than 166 days in space and conducted about 200 experiments in zero gravity. He became the sixth astronaut of Italy and the 532th astronaut of the world ^[2] .

In 2015, he took part in the NASA mission for operations in extreme environments (NEEMO 20) as a commander of an international crew. In May 2017, he began training at the Yu.A. Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, studied the design and systems of Soyuz MS TPK ^[3] .

In June 2017, as part of a conditional crew, he completed training on actions after landing a spaceship on a water surface. On November 30, 2017, he was approved as flight engineer-1 of the backup crew of the Soyuz MS-11 spacecraft. In February 2018, he participated in training on crew actions after landing in a wooded area in winter. On December 3, 2018, at the start of the Soyuz MS-11 TPK, it was a backup for the ship’s flight engineer. Since December of the same year, he was trained as part of the ISS-60/61 main crew as a flight engineer of the Soyuz MS-13 manned spacecraft, ISS-60 flight engineer and ISS-61 commander ^{[3] [2]} .

On March 13, 2019, Luca Parmitano was approved as flight engineer for the Soyuz MS-12 TPK backup crew, together with astronaut Alexander Skvortsov and astronaut Andrew Morgan. March 14, 2019 during the launch of the ship were at the Baikonur Cosmodrome ^[3] .

On July 19, 2019, the State Commission for the flight tests of manned space systems approved the composition of the main crew of the Soyuz MS-13 TPK, which included astronaut Alexander Skvortsov (commander), astronauts Luca Parmitano (flight engineer-1) and Andrew Morgan (flight engineer- 2) ^[15] .

July 20, 2019 at 19:28:21 Moscow time, Luka Parmitano started with cosmonaut Alexander Skvortsov (crew commander) and astronaut Andrew Morgan from the “ Gagarin launch ” of the Baikonur cosmodrome as flight engineer of the Soyuz MS-13 spacecraft and flight crew engineer of the International space station according to the program ISS-60 / 61 and ISS-62 of the main space expeditions, the call sign of the crew is “Cliffs”. The approach of the Soyuz MS-13 spacecraft to the space station and the approaching to the docking unit of the Zvezda service module took place automatically in a four-turn scheme ^[16] . The spacecraft docked with the ISS on July 21, 2019 at 01:48 Moscow time ^[17] .

Statistics ^[18]

• Order of Merit for the Italian Republic (commander, Italy) ^[19] ;
• (2007, Italy) ^[20] .
• Silver cross for length of service (16 years of service, Italy) ^[19] ;
• Medal for long service in military aviation (15 years, Italy) ^[19] ;
• space flight medal (NASA) ^[19] ;
• Medal for Outstanding Service (NASA) ^[19] .

In 2017, asteroid 37627 - Luca Parmitano ^{[21] was} named in his honor.

Luca Parmitano is married to Katherine Dillow, has two children in a family: Sarah (b. 2007) and Maya ^[13]

He is fond of scuba diving , snowboarding , mountaineering , parachuting and paragliding , likes to read books and listen to music ^[3] . Radio amateur with the call sign KF5KDP ^[22] .

Luca Parmitano wrote two books after his first space flight:

• Luca Parmitano. Volare. 166 giorni con @astro_luca . - Rai Eri, 2014 .-- ISBN 978-8839716415 .
• Luca Parmitano. Volare. Lo spazio e altre sfide . - Rai Eri, 2017 .-- ISBN 9788839717252 .

• Luca Salvo Parmitano. Biography (neopr.) . Roscosmos . Date of treatment July 22, 2019.