ESA Astronaut Gets Ready for ISS Mission

The European Space Agency says astronaut Christer Fuglesang of Sweden will soon become the first citizen of a Nordic nation to go into space.

Fuglesang is to be aboard Space Shuttle Discovery when it lifts off early next month on a voyage to the International Space Station. He is currently undergoing intensive training at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The Paris-based ESA said STS-116 will mark the start of a series of complex missions to complete the space station’s construction. Fuglesang and his NASA counterpart, astronaut Robert Curbeam, will conduct two spacewalks on the 12-day mission.

During the first, the P5 truss structure will be installed. During the second spacewalk the power system for one half of the ISS will be rewired. The other half of the power system will be rewired during a third spacewalk, conducted by other crew members.

Fuglesang will return to Earth accompanied by ESA astronaut Thomas Reiter, who will have completed his six-month duty onboard the Station.