German Astronaut Gerst Flies to ISS in 2014:

On 18 September 2011, the German ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst was nominated for his first mission to the International Space Station ISS. Gerst is to depart on a long-term mission to mankind's largest outpost in space in December 2014. The geophysicist Alexander Gerst is thus the first German after Thomas Reiter, who in his capacity as ESA astronaut will live and work aboard the ISS in 400 kilometres height for several months. He will accompany the ISS expeditions 40 and 41 in the capacity of flight engineer and will, according to current plans, depart for the orbit with a Russian Soyuz spacecraft in May 2014. His return to Earth is scheduled for November 2014. 35-year-old Gerst is a member of the European Astronaut Corps since September 2009 and was officially appointed as an astronaut on 22 November 2010 after completion of his basic training at the European Astronaut Centre (EAC) in Cologne. He is the second member of the youngest ESA astronaut class to be nominated for an ISS mission after the Italian Luca Parmitano.

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