Thomas Reiter

Thomas Arthur Reiter (born May 23, 1958 in Frankfurt, Germany) is a retired European astronaut and is a Brigadier General in the Luftwaffe. As of 2008, he was one of the top 25 astronauts in terms of total time in space. He lives in Wahnbek (near Oldenburg) in Lower Saxony. In 1982, Reiter received his diploma in aerospace engineering from the University of the German Federal Armed Forces, Munich. He completed his training as a pilot in Germany a... more

Thomas Arthur Reiter (born May 23, 1958 in Frankfurt, Germany) is a retired European astronaut and is a Brigadier General in the Luftwaffe. As of 2008, he was one of the top 25 astronauts in terms of total time in space. He lives in Wahnbek (near Oldenburg) in Lower Saxony. In 1982, Reiter received his diploma in aerospace engineering from the University of the German Federal Armed Forces, Munich. He completed his training as a pilot in Germany and Texas. He served as an onboard engineer for the Euromir 95/Soyuz TM-22 mission to the Mir space station. During his 179 days aboard Mir, he carried out two EVAs and became the first German astronaut to perform a spacewalk. Between 1996 and 1997, he underwent additional training on the Soyuz spacecraft and was awarded a "Soyuz Return Commander" certificate, qualifying him to command a three-person Soyuz crew during its return from space. He trained for a six-month mission to the International Space Station and was launched on the Discovery... less