| Marcos César Pontes | |
|---|---|
 | |
| AEB Astronaut | |
| Nationality | Brazilian |
| Born | March 11, 1963 Bauru, São Paulo, Brazil |
| Other occupation | Fighter pilot |
| Rank | Lieutenant-Colonel |
| Space time | 9d 21h 17m |
| Selection | 1998 NASA Group |
| Missions | Soyuz TMA-8, Soyuz TMA-7 |
| Mission insignia |   |
Marcos César Pontes (born March 11, 1963) is a Brazilian Air Force pilot. The Brazilian Space Agency ( Portuguese: Agência Espacial Brasileira; AEB) is the civilian authority in Brazil that is in charge of the |utc_offset = -2 to -4 |time_zone_DST = BRST |utc_offset_DST = -2 to -5 |cctld Events 1425 BC - Thutmose III, Pharaoh of Egypt, dies (according to the Low Chronology of the 18th Dynasty Year 1963 ( MCMLXIII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Bauru is a Brazilian city and municipality in the state of São Paulo. ( is a state in Brazil. It is the major industrial and economic powerhouse of the Brazilian economy A fighter pilot is a military aviator trained to engage other aircraft and typically pilots a Fighter aircraft. Lieutenant Colonel ( Lieutenant-Colonel in English from the French grade 's spelling is a rank of Commissioned officer in the armies 1957 - Man In Space Soonest Group 1 - USA Neil A Armstrong, Albert S Soyuz TMA-8 was a Soyuz mission to the International Space Station (ISS launched by a Soyuz FG launch vehicle Crew Launched Valery Tokarev (2 Commander - William McArthur (4 Flight Engineer - Gregory Olsen Events 1425 BC - Thutmose III, Pharaoh of Egypt, dies (according to the Low Chronology of the 18th Dynasty Year 1963 ( MCMLXIII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. |utc_offset = -2 to -4 |time_zone_DST = BRST |utc_offset_DST = -2 to -5 |cctld He became the first Brazilian and the first Lusophone to go into space when he launched to the International Space Station aboard Soyuz TMA-8 on March 30, 2006. A Lusophone (or lusophone) is someone who speaks the Portuguese language natively or by adoption Soyuz TMA-8 was a Soyuz mission to the International Space Station (ISS launched by a Soyuz FG launch vehicle Events 240 BC - 1st recorded Perihelion passage of Halley's Comet. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. He is the only Brazilian to complete the NASA astronaut training program, although he switched to training in Russia after NASA's Space Shuttle program encountered problems. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( NASA, ˈnæsə is an agency of the United States government, responsible for the nation's public space program NASA 's Space Shuttle, officially called the Space Transportation System ( STS) is the Spacecraft currently used by the United States
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Early life
Pontes was born in the town of Bauru, in the southeastern state of São Paulo. Bauru is a Brazilian city and municipality in the state of São Paulo. ( is a state in Brazil. It is the major industrial and economic powerhouse of the Brazilian economy
Career
Pontes is one of the most experienced jet pilots in the Brazilian Air Force (FAB), where he holds the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel and has flown for more than 2000 hours in 25 different aircraft. The Brazilian Air Force ( Portuguese: Força Aérea Brasileira, FAB) is the air branch of the Brazilian armed forces and one of the three national Lieutenant Colonel ( Lieutenant-Colonel in English from the French grade 's spelling is a rank of Commissioned officer in the armies In June 1998, he was selected by the Brazilian Space Agency to train in the NASA space program after he acquired a space-related background in the Aeronatical Engineering division of the Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica (the Aeronautics Technological Institute, or "ITA"), which he transferred to in pursuit of a childhood dream to become an astronaut. The Brazilian Space Agency ( Portuguese: Agência Espacial Brasileira; AEB) is the civilian authority in Brazil that is in charge of the The Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica (ITA or Aeronautical Institute of Technology is an engineering college maintained by the Brazilian Federal Government with the He began NASA training in August 1998 and qualified as Space Shuttle mission specialist in December 2000. Astronaut ranks and positions A Mission Specialist (MS is a position held by certain NASA Astronauts for the Space Shuttle program
Pontes' maiden flight aboard a Space Shuttle, during which he was to help transport the first Brazilian-made component of the International Space Station into orbit, was postponed due to delays in the completion of the component, known as the Express Pallet, and budgetary concerns at NASA. During the delay Pontes ran a campaign to hasten the Brazilian government in completion of the part and worked on technical assignments in the Astronaut Office Space Station Operations Branch of NASA. His flight was postponed indefinitely when all NASA flights were suspended in February 2003 after the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. The Space Shuttle Columbia disaster occurred on February 1, 2003, when the Space Shuttle ''Columbia'' disintegrated over Texas
On September 2, 2005, an agreement which cost about US$ 20 million between the governments of Brazil and Russia provided for Pontes to train at Star City, near Moscow, to learn about the Soyuz's operational and life-support systems, and to fly to the International Space Station in March 2006. Events 44 BC - Pharaoh Cleopatra VII of Egypt declares her son co-ruler as Ptolemy XV Caesarion. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Star City (Звёздный городок Zvyozdny Gorodok) is a military research and training facility near Moscow (Москва́ romanised: Moskvá, IPA: see also other names) is the Capital and the largest city of The agreement was signed by the presidents of the Brazilian and Russian space agencies, Sérgio Gaudenzi and Anatoli Perminov, respectively. The Brazilian Space Agency ( Portuguese: Agência Espacial Brasileira; AEB) is the civilian authority in Brazil that is in charge of the The Russian Federal Space Agency ( Russian: Федеральное космическое агентство России Federal'noe kosmicheskoe agentstvo Rossii
Pontes' flight coincided with celebrations of the 100th anniversary of Brazilian aviation pioneer Alberto Santos-Dumont's successful flight of an airplane in Paris, in October 1906, which is considered by some to be the first flight of a self-propelled machine heavier than air (as the Wright brother's flyer used a catapult to take-off). Alberto Santos-Dumont (July 20 1873 &ndash July 23 1932 was an early pioneer of Aviation. Overview Fixed-wing aircraft range from small training and recreational aircraft to Wide-body aircraft and military cargo aircraft. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout
On March 30, 2006 Pontes became the first Brazilian and the first native Portuguese-speaking person to go into space, where he stayed on the International Space Station for a week. Events 240 BC - 1st recorded Perihelion passage of Halley's Comet. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. During his trip, Pontes carried out eight experiments selected by the Brazilian Space Agency. He landed in Kazakhstan on April 8, 2006, with the crew of Expedition 12. Events 217 - Roman Emperor Caracalla is Assassinated (and succeeded by his Praetorian Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Expedition 12 (2005 was the 12th expedition to the International Space Station, launched from Kazakhstan using the Russian Soyuz TMA-7 spacecraft
See also
- Timeline of space travel by nationality
- Brazilian Space Agency
- Brazilian National Institute for Space Research (INPE)
- Aeronautics Technological Institute (ITA)
- Brazilian General Command for Aerospace Technology (CTA)
External links
- NASA website biography of Pontes
- Brazil, Russia Agree To Send Brazilian Cosmonaut To Space
- Brazil's President In Moscow Signs Deal For Joint Space Mission
- Spacefacts biography of Marcos Pontes
- Air Force Technological Institute (ITA)
- Brazilian Space Agency
- Marcos Pontes' official website (flash required) (Portuguese)
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