On 16 December ESA's astronaut Paolo Nespoli will be launched in December in a Soyuz TMA spacecraft from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan with Dmitri Kondratyev and Catherine Coleman, for a challenging 6-month mission on the International Space Station (ISS) as members of Expeditions 26/27. This will be Paolo's second time aboard the ISS: he flew in 2007 on a Space Shuttle to deliver and install the Node-2 module. Paolo's mission will be Europe's third long-duration mission on the ISS.

Between December 2010 and June 2011 he will be part of the ISS crew as a flight engineer. In addition to his technical and operational duties, he has an extensive programme of scientific experiments and educational activities. He will use a novel 3D camera to show realistic views from inside and outside the ISS.

This story recalls the ESA astronaut's career in space and presents his upcoming mission with new images of hist training at Star City and an interview in English and Italian.