• 1970 – Masters in Electronics Engineering from the University of Genoa
• 1974 – Doctorate in Physics, University of Genoa
• 1974-1975 – Reserve Officer in the Italian Navy
• 1977-1980 – ESA European Payload Specialist candidate for the first Spacelab mission
• 1989-1993 – ASI Payload Specialist, first Italian astronaut - flew on the STS-46 Space Shuttle mission in 1992
• 1994-1999 – Elected to the European Parliament for the Italian European Popular Party
• 2000-2004 – Alenia Spazio – Director of the European Institutional Relations Office
• 2005-2013 – Science and Energy Advisor, Permanent Italian Delegation to OECD, ESA, IEA and Eutelsat-IGO
• 2013 – Business Development Coach and Consultant for SMEs in the space sector

In 1977 Malerba was selected as one of four European Payload Specialist Candidates for the first Spacelab mission, in ESA’s first astronaut selection. On selection he joined the Space Science Department of ESTEC, in the Space Plasma Physics Division, working on the development, testing, and qualification of ES020 - PICPAB, an experiment in Ionospheric Plasma Physics for the first Spacelab payload, which was launched in 1983. He was subsequently selected in 1989 as a Payload Specialist by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and NASA, and was assigned to the NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas, for training. In September 1991, he was designated Prime Payload Specialist for the TSS-1 Space Shuttle mission. Malerba flew as the first Italian in space on STS-46 in 1992.
 

• Graduated in Physics from Leeds University and spent several years working in industry, including 4 years with the Fairey Aviation Company
• 1950 – Joined the UK Scientific Civil Service with posts in the Royal Aircraft Establishment (Farnborough) for over two decades dealing with scientific photography, data transmission and instrumentation, culminating as Head of Instrumentation and Ranges
• 1976 – Director for Space in the UK Department of Industry
• 1976-1979 – Chairman of ESA’s Joint Communications Board
• 1978 – Under Secretary in the Department of Industry, responsible for research and technology requirements and space division
• 1979 – Appointed Director of the National Maritime Institute
• 1981-1985 – ESA’s Director of Applications Programmes

As Director for Space in the Department of Industry, Mallett was a delegate to the ESA Council and Chairman of the Joint Communications Board from October 1976 until June 1979. He took up duty in January 1981 at ESA as Director of Applications Programmes, a position he held until his retirement in 1985.

• 1929 - Arrived in the UK (from Australia) to do postgraduate research at the University of Cambridge
• 1933 - Lecturer in Mathematical Physics, Queen’s University, Belfast
• 1938 - Goldsmid Professor of Applied Mathematics at University College, London, Quain Professor of Physics and Head of the UCL Physics Department from 1950, Vice-Provost from 1969 to 1973, retired 1975
• 1959-1978 - Chairman of COSPAR
• 1964 - First Chairman of the ESRO Council
• First chairman of the British National Committee for Space Research and the European Space Sciences Committee

Massey was a key supporter of European collaboration in space research, a founder member of COSPAR, instrumental in the creation of ESRO and the first Chairman of its Council. He also played an important role in the administration of UK national science policy, being the first Chairman of the UK government’s Council for Scientific Policy and involved in the work of the Science and Engineering Research Council.

• 1964 – Graduated in electronic engineering from the University of Rome, postgraduate degree in telecommunications
• 1966-1998 – Various positions for Selenia Spazio and subsequently Alenia Aerospazio: Radio Frequency Designer for Selenia (1966), Central Technical Director (1984), Deputy General Manager of Alenia Aerospazio (1994), First Vice President Operations (1997)
• 1998-2004 – ESA Director of Application Programmes; Acting Director of Earth and Environment Monitoring from Space (2001-2004)

On graduation, Mastracci joined Selenia as a radio frequency designer in the Communication Division. He maintained his position as Central Technical Director when Selenia Spazio merged with Aeritalia GSS in 1990 to form Alenia Aerospazio, eventually becoming Senior Vice President and member of the Management Board of the Space Division of Alenia Aerospazio, where he was in charge of strategic alliances and international cooperation.

Mastracci was appointed as Director of Application Programmes by the ESA Council in October 1998 (a position that subsequently became known as Director of the EU and Industrial Programmes Directorate). He was responsible for the ARTES programme (covering technology development, feasibility studies and system development for future space telecommunication programmes) and for GalileoSat — ESA’s contribution to the EU Galileo initiative — the first worldwide civil satellite navigation system. It was in this capacity that he represented ESA in the 2003 signing of the contracts for the first Galileo satellites. He was also nominated Acting Director of Earth and Environment Monitoring from Space in April 2001.   

• 1967–1978 - Worked in solid-state physics at the Max Planck Institute for Metals Research
• 1976 – Doctorate in Sciences from the University of Stuttgart
• 1977-1994 – Selected as ESA European Payload Specialist for the first Spacelab mission, ESA Astronaut on three missions from 1983 to 1994
• 1999-2004 – Responsible for Utilisation Promotion Management in the Microgravity Promotion Division of ESA’s Directorate of Manned Spaceflight and Microgravity, at ESTEC

In 1977, Merbold was selected as one of four European Payload Specialist Candidates for the first Spacelab mission, in ESA’s first astronaut selection. A year later he was nominated as one of the three Payload Specialists for the mission and in 1982 was selected for flight. Merbold was the first ESA astronaut to fly in space, and the first non-US citizen to fly on a Space Shuttle, as part of the crew of the STS-9 Spacelab 1 mission on Space Shuttle Columbia in 1983. The primary objective of this mission was the verification of Spacelab in orbit. Subsequently, he was ESA's Payload Specialist on STS-42 (1992), the International Microgravity Laboratory mission (IML-1) on the Space Shuttle, and was selected to fly with ESA's Euromir 94 mission (1994) to the Russian Space Station MIR. He was the first ESA astronaut to fly on a Russian mission. Among other responsibilities for ESA, he worked on the Columbus programme and served as head of the DLR’s astronaut office. He continued working for ESA until his retirement in 2004.

• Italian physicist and engineer, industrial experience with Fiat and Olivetti
• 1967-1973 - Director of ESOC

Montalenti joined ESRO in 1967 to become Director of ESOC (European Space Operations Centre) in Darmstadt, replacing Stig Comet. Reform of ESRO's administrative structure in 1967, meant that ESOC (formerly ESDAC) took over responsibility for operating satellites after their launch, work previously carried out by the flight control group at ESTEC in Noordwijk; Montalenti's challenge in 1967 was to integrate this group. His successful first launch, (ESRO 2 in March 1968) confirmed morale and Montalenti oversaw a further 300 sounding rocket launches from Kiruna as well as those of the satellites HEOS 1 and 2, TD 1 and ESRO 4.

• 1977-1987 – Served in the Italian Army, becoming Officer and Special Forces Operator
• 1988-1990 – Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering (1988) and Master of Science in Aeronautics and Astronautics (1989) from the Polytechnic University of New York; Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Florence (1990)
• 1989-1990 – Design Engineer for Proel Tecnologie in Florence
• 1990-1998 – Astronaut Training Engineer at ESA’s European Astronaut Centre in Cologne, Germany
• 1998 – Selected as national astronaut by Italian Space Agency ASI
• 1998-2018 – Joined the ESA Astronaut Corps, ESA Astronaut on three missions between 2007 and 2017
• 2023 – Lecturer for the Politecnico di Milano course on Space Engineering

From 1990, Nespoli worked for ESA's European Astronaut Centre in Cologne as an Astronaut Training Engineer, contributing to basic training for the European astronauts. He worked on the Crew Support Computer used on the Russian space station Mir, and also in the Spaceflight Training Division for the crews of the International Space Station at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

In July 1998, Nespoli was selected as an astronaut by ASI, and a month later, joined ESA’s European Astronaut Corps. He undertook training at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas and at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre in Star City, near Moscow, before returning to NASA’s astronaut office in Houston, where he also carried out technical duties for NASA, ESA and ASI.

In 2007, he flew as a Mission Specialist on Space Shuttle Discovery for the STS-120 flight to the International Space Station. During his Esperia mission, Nespoli performed a number of experiments for the European scientific community in human physiology and biology. 

His second spaceflight, Expedition 26/27, was a long-duration mission to the International Space Station from December 2010 to May 2011. Nespoli’s duties as flight engineer during his MagISStra mission included scientific experimentsm technology demonstrations and educational activities. 

Nespoli’s third mission was aboard Soyuz MS-05 from July to December 2017. He completed more than 60 experiments during his Vita mission and on his return had accumulated 314 days in space over three flights.
 

• 1966 – Qualified as a Swiss Air Force pilot
• 1974 – Qualified as an airline pilot (flying DC-9s for Swissair from 1974 to 1976)
• 1975 – Master of Science in astrophysics from the University of Geneva
• 1977-2007 – Selected as ESA European Payload Specialist for the first Spacelab mission, ESA Astronaut on four missions from 1992-1999 and was Lead ESA Astronaut in Houston
• 1988 – Graduated as test pilot at the Empire Test Pilots’ School, UK
• 2007 – Professor of Spatial Technology at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne)

In 1977 Nicollier was selected as one of four European Payload Specialist Candidates for the first Spacelab mission, in ESA’s first astronaut selection. He joined Group 9 of NASA astronauts in 1980 for Space Shuttle training at the Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas, where he was stationed until September 2005. Nicollier was a crew member on four Space Shuttle flights: STS-46 in 1992, STS-61 in 1993, STS-75 in 1996 and STS-103 in 1999. During his final spaceflight he became the first ESA astronaut to participate in a spacewalk during a Space Shuttle mission. In addition, from 1996 to 1998, he was Head of the Astronaut Office Robotics Branch, and from 2000, he was assigned to the Astronaut Office Extravehicular Activity Branch, while maintaining a position as Lead ESA astronaut in Houston. He retired from ESA in 2007.

• 1978 – PhD in nuclear physics from the University of Groningen
• 1977 – Selected as ESA European Payload Specialist for the first Spacelab mission, ESA Astronaut on the German D1 Spacelab mission in 1985
• 2003 – Became full-time professor of Aerospace for Sustainable Engineering and Technology at Delft University of Technology

In 1977 Ockels was selected as one of four European Payload Specialist Candidates for the first Spacelab mission, in ESA’s first astronaut selection. In 1980 he began the basic astronaut training for mission specialist at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, Houston. He successfully completed the training in August 1981 and joined the Spacelab 1 crew for training as a back-up payload specialist for the first mission. During this mission (1983) he served as ground-communicator and liaison-scientist for the crew on board STS-9/Spacelab 1. In 1985 he flew as a payload specialist on flight STS-61A with Space Shuttle Challenger. STS-61A was the German D1 Spacelab mission. From 1986, Ockels was based at ESTEC, where he supported human spaceflight activities and later became Head of ESA’s Education and Outreach Office. From September 2003, in close coordination with ESA, he became full-time professor of Aerospace for Sustainable Engineering and Technology at the Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands, dealing with the exploitation of alternative sources of energy.

• Trained as a military engineer at the Royal Military Academy in Belgium and subsequent post-graduate studies at the Cranfield College of Aeronautics in the UK
• 1963 - joined ELDO, active in its Europa programmes, in particular the Europa 1 programme from 1963 to 1969 and the Europa 3 programme from 1969 until its cancellation in 1973
• 1973-1996 - Head of the Ariane Programme for ESRO and, from 1975, for ESA

Orye became Head of the Ariane Programme for ESRO in 1973 when the launcher development project originally called LIIIS adopted the name Ariane. Orye was involved in setting up the complex framework for the programme, the operation of the Guiana Space Centre and the negotiations for Intelsat to become the first external customer for Ariane. He also took part in the last ESC in Brussels in 1975, the first ESA Council at Ministerial Level in 1977, the first ESA mission to China in 1979, the first launch of Ariane on 24 December 1979. He retired in 1996.

See also: Interview with Raymond Orye from the Oral History of Europe in Space Collection