Maurizio Cheli (born 4 May 1959) is an Italian engineer, air force officer, an ESA astronaut and a veteran of one NASA space shuttle mission.
A native of Modena, Chel attended the Italian Air Force Academy and trained as a test pilot. He studied geophysics at the University of Rome La Sapienza and earned a master's degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Houston. He trained significantly with the United States Air Force and was sel...
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Maurizio Cheli (born 4 May 1959) is an Italian engineer, air force officer, an ESA astronaut and a veteran of one NASA space shuttle mission.
A native of Modena, Chel attended the Italian Air Force Academy and trained as a test pilot. He studied geophysics at the University of Rome La Sapienza and earned a master's degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Houston. He trained significantly with the United States Air Force and was selected as an astronaut candidate by the European Space Agency in 1992. He holds the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Italian Air Force. He flew aboard STS-75 in 1996 as a mission specialist.
In the same year Alenia Aeronautica enroll him, and two year later he became Chief Test Pilot for combat aircrafts. His last test program was for the European Combat Aircraft Eurofighter Typhoon.
Maurizio Cheli has more than 380 hours of space activity and more than 4500 flying hours on more than 50 different aircraft types.
He is married to fellow former...
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