Greece is sending its first astronaut to space. Adrianos Golemis, a 39-year-old doctor from Larissa, has been assigned t...

Greece is sending its first astronaut to space. Adrianos Golemis, a 39-year-old doctor from Larissa, has been assigned to fly to the International Space Station in the second half of 2027 as a Mission Specialist on the PAM-6 mission, a private crew mission NASA has contracted to the company Vast. The mission will launch aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft on a Falcon 9 rocket, and it may become the first ISS mission with an all-European crew. Three of the four crew members have been confirmed so far, with the identity of the fourth still pending final international approval. Golemis trained as a physician at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki before specializing in Space Sciences at the International Space University in France. His path to orbit was anything but ordinary. He spent a full year in total isolation at the Concordia research station in Antarctica, studying the physiological and psychological effects of extreme confinement, conditions that closely mirror a deep-space mission. Since 2018, he has served as Lead Flight Surgeon at the European Space Agency, overseeing the health of European astronauts. In 2022, he made it to the final 25 candidates out of 22,500 applicants in the ESA astronaut selection process, earning him ESA Project Astronaut status. He is currently completing an intensive training program at the European Astronaut Centre in Cologne, Germany, set to finish in October 2026. His role on the mission is flight physician and lead biomedical researcher, responsible for crew health and conducting scientific experiments in orbit. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, speaking from Paris, welcomed the news and said there is "absolute certainty that Adrianos will make us proud." The flight remains subject to final approval from the Multilateral Crew Operations Panel. #Greece #Space #ISS