Dr. Jean-Jacques Favier (Ph.D.) Flew Aboard STS-78

The International Space University is very pleased that, thanks to the support of the French National Space Agency, CNES, French payload specialist astronaut Dr. Jean-Jacques Favier (Ph.D.) has joined the resident faculty in Strasbourg. Dr. Favier has attended primary and secondary schools in Strasbourg, including Lycée Kléber and is therefore the only Alsatian astronaut, now coming back to his roots.

After obtaining PhD degrees in engineering from the Ecole des Mines in Paris and in Metallurgy from the University of Grenoble, he started a scientific career and specialized on crystal growth, furnaces and in-situ diagnosis. In the course of this work he got involved in microgravity experiments and was Principal Investigator on various microgravity experiments with ESA, NASA and the Russians.
 
In this capacity he was selected as Payload Specialist and participated as astronaut in the 16-day Life and Microgravity Spacelab mission STS-78 on board of the Columbia Shuttle. On detachment of the Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA) to CNES he coordinated several research and strategy activities.

After the Japanese astronaut Dr. Chiaki Mukai, he is the second astronaut being part of the resident faculty of ISU and will contribute in lectures in the field of engineering physics at the University. Moreover, he will take up the coordination of ISU’s research activities.
 
This assignment has been made possible thanks to the generous support of CNES. "CNES is committed to the success of the International Space University in Alsace," said Mr. Jean-Yves Le Gall. "Having an Alsatian astronaut in ISU was considered as a strong emphasis of this commitment. Moreover, with the experience of dr. Favier in the field of research, we are convinced that this will also be of benefit to Alsace in terms of hi-tech developments."
 
"I had the privilege to execute scientific experiments in space," said Dr. Favier. "On the basis of this experience I am very glad to be able to share this knowledge and sensation with the next generation of space explorers, the ISU students."

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