Jean-François Clervoy

Did You Know?

• Clervoy is the author of the book "Histoire(s) d'Espace" about his third mission.
• He is Chairman and strategy manager of Novespace, a CNES subsidiary operating the A310 Zero-G aircraft.

Early life and education

Clervoy was born in Longeville-lès-Metz to Mireille Lemonde and Jean Clervoy, a former French Air Force pilot. He has a twin brother, Patrick Clervoy, a military psychiatrist. He considers Toulouse his adopted hometown. He received his baccalauréat from Collège Militaire de Saint-Cyr-l'École in 1976, passed Math. Sup. and Math. Spé. M' at Prytanée Militaire in 1978, graduated from École Polytechnique in 1981, and from École nationale supérieure de l'aéronautique et de l'espace in 1983. He graduated as a Flight Test Engineer from École du personnel navigant d'essais et de réception in 1987.

Experience

In 1983, the French defence agency DGA seconded Clervoy to CNES, where he developed autopilot systems for satellites like SPOT, the STAR laser link, and the VEGA comet probe. He holds the rank of Ingénieur Général de l’Armement. Selected in France’s second astronaut group in 1985, he dove into Russian language training. From 1987 to 1992, he ran the parabolic flight program at the Flight Test Center in Brétigny-sur-Orge and backed the European human spaceflight effort from the Hermes crew office in Toulouse. Between 1983 and 1987, he also taught signal processing and mechanics at the aeronautics school in Toulouse. In 1991, he trained on Soyuz and Mir systems in Star City, Moscow. He joined the ESA Astronaut Corps at the European Astronaut Center in Cologne in 1992, then moved to NASA’s Johnson Space Center that August to qualify as a Space Shuttle mission specialist. Between missions, he verified flight software in the Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory and designed robotics displays for the Shuttle and ISS. After his third flight, he led ISS display integration in the NASA-JSC Astronaut Office. He logged 675 hours in space across two Shuttle flights and one other mission. Americans struggled with his name, so they called him "Billy Bob." From 2001 to 2008, he served as Senior Advisor Astronaut for ESA’s Automated Transfer Vehicle project in Les Mureaux. In 2008, he sat on the selection board for new ESA astronauts. He holds military and civilian parachuting and scuba-diving licenses, plus a private pilot license.

Spaceflight experience

STS-66 in November 1994 was the ATLAS-3 mission studying Earth's energy balance and atmospheric change. Clervoy used the robotic arm to deploy the CRISTA-SPAS satellite, logging 262 hours and 34 minutes and 175 orbits. STS-84 in May 1997 was the sixth Shuttle mission to dock with Mir. As payload commander he managed over 20 experiments, operated the docking system and SPACEHAB, and transferred 4 tons of equipment. He was trained as a contingency spacewalker, logging 221 hours and 20 minutes and 144 orbits. STS-103 in December 1999 repaired the Hubble Space Telescope after gyroscope failures. Clervoy served as flight engineer for ascent, rendezvous, and entry, using the robotic arm to capture and deploy the telescope and maneuver crew mates during three spacewalks. He logged 191 hours and 11 minutes and 120 orbits.

Organisations

Clervoy is a member of the Association of Space Explorers, a distinguished member of the French Aeronautics and Astronautics Association, and a member of the Air and Space Academy, the International Academy of Astronautics, and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. He is an Ambassador of the World Ocean Network and patron of the marine life preservation association 'Te mana o te moana'. He is also the ESA representative for the 'SeaOrbiter' project.