Sophie Adenot

Sophie Adenot (born 5 July 1982) is a French engineer, helicopter pilot, and astronaut. A French Air and Space Force helicopter pilot with the rank of lieutenant colonel, Adenot became France's first female helicopter test pilot in 2018. In 2022, she was chosen as a member of the European Astronaut Corps.

Sophie Adenot
Sophie Adenot at the announcement of the 2022 European Space Agency Astronaut Group in Paris
Born (1982-07-05) July 5, 1982
Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire, France
AllegianceFrance
Service/branchFrench Air and Space Force
Years of service2005–present
RankLieutenant colonel (since 2020)
UnitEscadron d'Hélicoptères 1/67 Pyrénées (2008-2012)
High Authority Transport Squadron (2012-2017)
Alma materÉcole Nationale Supérieure de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Other work
  • Engineer
  • helicopter pilot
Space career
ESA Astronaut
Selection2022 ESA Group

Early life and education

Sophie Adenot was born on 5 July 1982, in Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire, in Burgundy, France, to pharmacist Isabelle Adenot (née Alloy) and Hubert Adenot, a notary in Corbigny.[1][2][3] Her mother Isabelle was national president of the Ordre national des pharmaciens, a professional order for pharmacists, from 2009 to 2017.[4][5]

Adenot attended a maison d'éducation de la Légion d'honneur, secondary schools open to daughters of members of the National Order of the Legion of Honour, in Saint-Denis to obtain a baccalaureate, and then attended higher school preparatory classes (French: classe préparatoire aux grandes écoles) to prepare for enrolment in one of the grande écoles.[6]

From 2001 to 2003, Adenot studied engineering at institut Supérieur de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace (ISAE-SUPAERO), in Toulouse, where she specialized in the flight dynamics of aircraft and spacecraft and earned a degree in 2004.[7][8][9] She earned a Master of Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge in 2004.[9][8] She worked at MIT's Man-Vehicle Laboratory and wrote her thesis on how the vestibular system adapts to artificial gravity to develop centrifuge training for astronauts.[7] For one year after graduating from MIT, in 2004, she was employed as an engineer at Airbus Helicopters, in Marignane, to design helicopter cockpits, especially those of H225 helicopters.[6][10]

Career

Air force service

Adenot joined the French Air Force in 2005.[10] After receiving helicopter pilot training, she was assigned to the Escadron d'Hélicoptères 1/67 Pyrénées, stationed at Cazaux Air Base, where from 2008 to 2012 she piloted Caracal helicopters for search and rescue missions within hostile territory.[7][10][11] In 2012, she was assigned to the High Authority Transport Squadron, located in Villacoublay, responsible for transporting the head of state, ministers, and delegations from foreign nations.[7][10]

In 2017, she entered the école du personnel navigant d'essais et de réception, a test pilot school, and in 2018 became the first female helicopter test pilot in France.[12][13] After graduating from Empire Test Pilots' School in the United Kingdom in 2018, she worked as a helicopter test pilot at Cazaux Air Base under the French Defence Procurement Agency from 2019 to 2022.[7][10] As of 2022, she has accumulated 3,000 flying hours across 22 types of helicopters.[14][12]

Adenot earned the rank of lieutenant in the Air Force in August 2006,[15] and rose to the rank of captain three years later,[16] commandant in December 2014,[17] and lieutenant colonel in June 2020.[18]

Astronaut career

Adenot was selected to join the European Astronaut Corps as part of the 2022 European Space Agency Astronaut Group. Adenot is the second French woman to join the European Astronaut Corps, after Claudie Haigneré.[9][12][19] Adenot and the sixteen other members of the group were selected from 22,500 candidates.[20]

Awards and honors

In 2020, Adenot was recognized by the Young Leaders program of the French-American Foundation.[21][22] The following year, in 2021, she was awarded the Medal of the French National Assembly for "actions as an inspiring ambassador for gender equality in sciences".[7] She was appointed a chevalier in the French National Order of Merit in 2022.[8]

References
  1. Matthieu Delacharlery (23 November 2022). "Espace : qui est Sophie Adenot, la nouvelle astronaute française ?" [Space: who is Sophie Adenot, the new French astronaut?] (in French). TF1. Retrieved 24 November 2022.
  2. "Les Imphycois, fiers de leur nouvelle astronaute : « Je souhaite tout le bonheur du monde à Sophie Adenot »" [People of Imphy, proud of their new astronaut: "I wish all the happiness in the world to Sophie Adenot"]. Le Journal du Centre (in French). 24 November 2022. Retrieved 30 November 2022.
  3. Who's Who in France, 2020 edition, p. 77.
  4. Ramspacher, Marie-Sophie (6 July 2009). "Isabelle Adenot". Les Echos (in French). Retrieved 30 January 2023.
  5. Bonte, Marie (21 March 2017). "Isabelle Adenot quitte l'Ordre". Le Quotidien du pharmacien (in French). Retrieved 30 January 2023.
  6. Marion Simon-Rainaud (29 November 2022). "L'astronaute Sophie Adenot, une prof de yoga bientôt dans l'ISS" [Astronaut Sophie Adenot, a yoga teacher soon to be on the ISS]. Les Échos (in French). Retrieved 30 November 2022.
  7. "Sophie Adenot". esa.int. Retrieved 27 December 2022.
  8. Lucie BRAS (23 November 2022). "Qui est Sophie Adenot, la nouvelle astronaute française qui rejoint l'Agence spatiale européenne ?" [Who is Sophie Adenot, the new French astronaut joining the European Space Agency?]. Ouest-France (in French). Retrieved 27 December 2022.
  9. "Who is Sophie Adenot, the French engineer destined for space?". Radio France Internationale. 24 November 2022. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  10. Pierre Barthélémy (27 November 2022). "Meet Sophie Adenot, the second French woman astronaut in history". Le Monde. Retrieved 25 December 2022.
  11. Marceau Bonnecaze (21 November 2011). "Hommage de la nation à l'escadron d'hélicoptères" [Nation's tribute to helicopter squadron]. Sud Ouest (in French). Retrieved 30 November 2022.
  12. "L'astronaute française Sophie Adenot intègre la nouvelle promotion de l'Agence spatiale européenne" [French astronaut Sophie Adenot joins the new class of the European Space Agency]. Le Monde (in French). 23 November 2022. Retrieved 28 November 2022. Diplômée de l'Institut supérieur de l'aéronautique et de l'espace, l'ingénieure Sophie Adenot, lieutenante-colonelle de l'armée de l'air, a été la première femme pilote d'essai d'hélicoptères, avec 3 000 heures de vol à son compteur. [A graduate of the Higher Institute of Aeronautics and Space, engineer Sophie Adenot, Lieutenant-Colonel of the Air Force, is the first female helicopter test pilot, with 3,000 flight hours on her counter.]
  13. "Agence spatiale européenne : la Française Sophie Adenot dans la nouvelle promotion" [European Space Agency: the French Sophie Adenot in the new class]. L'Express (in French). 23 November 2022. Retrieved 30 November 2022.
  14. Camille Hazard (24 November 2022). "Sophie Adenot, maman, pilote d'hélicoptère et astronaute" [Sophie Adenot, mother, helicopter pilot and astronaut]. Paris Match (in French). Retrieved 24 November 2022.
  15. Décret du 23 octobre 2006 portant nomination et promotion dans l'armée active
  16. Décret du 24 août 2009 portant nomination et promotion dans l'armée active
  17. Décret du 11 décembre 2014 portant nomination et promotion dans l'armée active
  18. Décret du 26 mai 2020 portant nomination et promotion dans l'armée active
  19. "Espace : Sophie Adenot devient la deuxième astronaute française, plus de vingt ans après Claudie Haigneré" [Space: Sophie Adenot becomes the second French astronaut, more than twenty years after Claudie Haigneré]. France Info (in French). 23 November 2022. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
  20. "ESA presents new generation of ESA astronauts". European Space Agency. 23 November 2022. Retrieved 30 November 2022.
  21. Thomas Hory (28 July 2020). "Portrait : le lieutenant-colonel Adenot sélectionnée pour le programme Young Leaders (French-American Foundation)" [Portrait: Lieutenant-Colonel Adenot selected for the Young Leaders program (French-American Foundation)] (in French). Ministry of Armed Forces. Retrieved 30 November 2022.
  22. "Promotion 2020 - Les Young Leaders français" (in French). French-American Foundation. Retrieved 30 November 2022.
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