STS-75 press kit

Edited by Richard W. Orloff, 01/2001/Page 36
BIOGRAPHICAL DATA
Claude Nicollier
ESA Astronaut
BIRTHPLACE AND DATE: Born September 2, 1944, in Vevey, Switzerland. His father, Mr. Georges
Nicollier, resides in La Tour de Peilz, Switzerland.
EDUCATION: Graduated from Gymnase de Lausanne (high school), Lausanne, Switzerland, in 1962;
received a bachelor of science in physics from the University of Lausanne in 1970 and a master of science
degree in astrophysics from the University of Geneva in 1975. Also graduated as a Swiss Air Force pilot in
1966, an airline pilot in 1974, and a test pilot in 1988.
MARITAL STATUS: Married to the former Susana Perez of Monterrey, Mexico. Her parents, Mr. and
Mrs. Jose L. Perez, reside in Guadalajara, Mexico.
CHILDREN: Maya, July 19, 1974; and Marina, June 15, 1978.
SPECIAL HONORS: Two NASA Space Flight Medals (1992 & 1993), Prix d'honneur de la Fondation Pro
Aero, Switzerland (1992), Yuri Gagarin Gold Medal from the International Aeronautical Federation
(1994), Silver Medal from the Academie Nationale de l'Air et de l'Espace, France (1994), Collier Trophy
(awarded to the crew of STS-61) from the National Aeronautics Association (1994), Prix de l'Universite de
Lausanne (1994), honorary doctorates from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne, and the
Geneva University (both in 1994). Appointed professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology,
Lausanne, in November 1994.
EXPERIENCE: From 1970 to 1973, Claude worked as a graduate scientist with the Institute of Astronomy
at Lausanne University and at the Geneva Observatory. He then joined the Swiss Air Transport School in
Zurich and was assigned as a DC-9 pilot for Swissair, concurrently participating part-time in research
activities of the Geneva Observatory. At the end of 1976 he accepted a Fellowship at the European Space
Agency's (ESA) Space Science Department at Noordwijk, Netherlands, where he worked as a research
scientist in various airborne infrared astronomy programs. In July 1978 he was selected by ESA as a
member of the first group of European astronauts. Under agreement between ESA and NASA he joined the
NASA astronaut candidates selected in May 1980 for astronaut training as a mission specialist.
His technical assignments in the Astronaut Office have included flight software verification in the Shuttle
Avionics Integration Laboratory (SAIL), participation in the development of retrieval techniques for the
Tethered Satellite System (TSS), Remote Manipulator System(RMS), and International Space Station (ISS)
robotics support. During 1988 he attended the Empire Test Pilot School in Boscombe Down, England,
from where he graduated as a test pilot in December 1988.
Claude holds a commission as captain in the Swiss Air Force and, during leave periods in Switzerland,
maintains proficiency in the Northrop F-5E aircraft. He has logged 5,300 hours flying time--including
3,700 hours in jet aircraft.
A veteran of two space flights, Claude has logged more than 451 hours in space. He flew on STS-46 in
1992, and STS- 61 in 1993.