Alexander GerstStatus: Active 5/3/1976 – Nationality: German Type: Government First Flight: 5/28/2014 Last Flight: 6/6/2018Alexander Gerst is a German European Space Agency astronaut and geophysicist, who was selected in 2009 to take part in space training. He was part of the International Space Station Expedition 40 and 41 from May to November 2014. Gerst returned to space on June 6, 2018, as part of Expedition 56/57 as the ISS Commander.LaunchesSoyuz FG | Soyuz TMA-13MSoyuz-FG | Soyuz MS-09European Space AgencyType: Multinational Abbreviation: ESA Administration: Johann-Dietrich Wörner Founded: 1975Country: AUT,BEL,CZE,DNK,FIN,FRA,DEU,GRC,IRE,ITA,LUZ,NLD,NOR,POL,PRT,ROU,ESP,SWE,CHE,GBRThe European Space Agency is an intergovernmental organisation of 22 member states. Established in 1975 and headquartered in Paris, France, ESA has a worldwide staff of about 2,000 employees. ESA’s space flight programme includes human spaceflight (mainly through participation in the International Space Station program); the launch and operation of unmanned exploration missions to other planets and the Moon; Earth observation, science and telecommunication; designing launch vehicles; and maintaining a major spaceport, the Guiana Space Centre at Kourou, French Guiana.