Jean-Jacques Favier (; 13 April 1949 – 19 March 2023) was a German-born French engineer and a

CNES CNES () is the French national space agency. Headquartered in central Paris, the agency is overseen by the ministries of the Armed Forces, Economy and Finance and Higher Education, Research and Innovation. It operates from the Toulouse Spac ...

astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a List of human spaceflight programs, human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spa ...

who flew aboard the

STS-78 STS-78 was the fifth dedicated Life and Microgravity Spacelab mission for the Space Shuttle program, flown partly in preparation for the International Space Station project. The mission used the Space Shuttle ''Columbia'', which lifted off succe ...

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

Space Shuttle mission in 1996. Favier was due to fly aboard the doomed '' Columbia'' mission in 2003 (STS-107), but later opted out of the mission. Jean-Jacques Favier was deputy director for space technology and deputy director for advanced concepts and strategy at CNES, director of the Solidification Laboratory at the French Atomic Energy Commission and research program director at the

International Space University The International Space University (ISU) is a higher education institute headquartered in Illkirch-Graffenstaden, a suburb of Strasbourg, France. It is dedicated to the discovery, research, and development of outer space and its applications f ...

Career

Favier was the advisor to the director of the Material Science Research Center (CEREM) at the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) and was detached to CNES. He proposed the MEPHISTO program, a collaborative project between the French Space Agency and NASA, and has developed many other scientific projects in collaboration with the United States since 1985. He was the principal investigator for a MEPHISTO materials processing experiment, which made its debut on the United States Microgravity Payload in 1992 and 1994. He became a CNES

payload specialist A payload specialist (PS) was an individual selected and trained by commercial or research organizations for flights of a specific payload on a NASA Space Shuttle mission. People assigned as payload specialists included individuals selected by t ...

in 1985. He has been principal investigator of more than ten space experiments in collaboration with ESA, NASA, and the Russian Space Agency. Favier was assigned as an alternate payload specialist on STS-65/IML-2, the second International Microgravity Laboratory mission, and supported the mission as a Crew Interface Coordinator (CIC/APS) from the Payload Operations Control Center (POCC) at the

Marshall Space Flight Center Marshall Space Flight Center (officially the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center; MSFC), located in Redstone Arsenal, Alabama (Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville postal address), is the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government's ...

Huntsville, Alabama Huntsville is the List of municipalities in Alabama, most populous city in the U.S. state of Alabama. The population of the city is estimated to be 241,114 in 2024, making it the List of United States cities by population, 100th-most populous ...

. Favier flew on

and logged over 405 hours in space. STS-78 '' Columbia'' (20 June to 7 July 1996) was a 16-day Life and Microgravity

Spacelab Spacelab was a reusable laboratory developed by European Space Agency (ESA) and used on certain spaceflights flown by the Space Shuttle. The laboratory comprised multiple components, including a pressurized module, an unpressurized carrier, ...

mission. It included studies sponsored by ten nations and five space agencies, was the first mission to combine both a full microgravity studies agenda and a comprehensive life science investigation, and served as a model for future studies on board the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is a large space station that was Assembly of the International Space Station, assembled and is maintained in low Earth orbit by a collaboration of five space agencies and their contractors: NASA (United ...

. STS-78 orbited the Earth 271 times, covering 7 million miles in 405 hours, 48 minutes. Favier was a member of the board of advisors of the

and also the chair of the research steering committee. He was co-founder of a remote imaging company called "Blue Planet", aimed at building a constellation of micro-satellites which image with a 1-meter resolution.

Personal life and death

Born in

Kehl Kehl (; ) is a city with around 38,000 inhabitants in the southwestern Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg. It lies in the region of Baden on the Rhine River, at the confluence with the smaller Kinzig (Rhine), Kinzig River, directly oppo ...

, Germany, he married Michèle Jean. They had four children. He enjoyed skiing, tennis, wind-surfing, and archaeology. Favier died on 19 March 2023, in

Albi Albi (; ) is a commune in France, commune in southern France. It is the prefecture of the Tarn (department), Tarn Departments of France, department, on the river Tarn (river), Tarn, 85 km northeast of Toulouse. Its inhabitants are called ...

at the age of 73.

Education

* Attended primary and secondary schools in

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

, France * 1971: Received an engineering degree from the INPG-ENSEEG (

Grenoble Institute of Technology The Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP) (''Institut polytechnique de Grenoble'' , ''Groupe Grenoble INP'' and before INPG) is a French technological university system consisting of eight engineering and management schools. Grenoble I ...

). * 1977: Earned a PhD in engineering from the

École des mines de Paris École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * Éco ...

* 1977: Earned a PhD in

metallurgy Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys. Metallurgy encompasses both the ...

and

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

from the

University of Grenoble The (, ''Grenoble Alps University'', abbr. UGA) is a Grands établissements, ''grand établissement'' in Grenoble, France. Founded in 1339, it is the third largest university in France with about 60,000 students and over 3,000 researchers. Es ...

Organisations

* Research Engineer,

Commissariat à l'énergie atomique The French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission, or CEA ( French: Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives), is a French public government-funded research organisation in the areas of energy, defense and sec ...

(CEA), 1976-1979 * Head Solidification Group 1970-1986 * Head of Laboratory 1986-1989 * Head Solidification and Crystal Growth Service, 1989 to 1993 * Cons. European Space Agency (ESA) * Centre National D’Etudes Spatiales (CNES), Paris 1983 to present * spationaut Candidate CNES, Paris 1985 to present * Member of Space Station User Panel of ESA.

Awards and honours

* Recipient Zellidja Association 2nd prize, French Academy Literature 1970, E. Brun Price Award French Academy Sciences * Member of International Organization of Crystal Growth * Member of American Association of Crystal Growth * Societe Française de Metallurgie * Groupe Français de Croissance Cristalline (Committee chairman) * Visiting professor at

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, the Capstone, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of ...

Huntsville Huntsville is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Alabama. The population of the city is estimated to be 241,114 in 2024, making it the 100th-most populous city in the U.S. The Huntsville metropolitan area had an estimated 525,465 ...

(UAH) (1994–95) * Member of the Space Science Committee of the European Science Foundation (ESF) * Several patents on crystal growth processes, furnaces and in situ diagnosis * French

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

NASA Space Flight Medal The NASA Space Flight Medal is a decoration of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. According to its statutes, it is awarded "for significant achievement or service during individual participation as a civilian or military astronau ...

* The Gold Medal of the City of

Grenoble Grenoble ( ; ; or ; or ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Isère Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region ...

* Published more than 130 research articles in refereed scientific journals and books

External links

*
Spacefacts biography of Jean-Jacques Favier

Earth from Space: Interactive Astronaut Panel
Michael Barratt, Jean-Jacques Favier,

Thomas Marshburn Thomas Henry "Tom" Marshburn (born August 29, 1960) is an American physician and a former NASA astronaut. He is a veteran of three spaceflights to the International Space Station and holds the record for the oldest person to perform a spacewalk a ...

, Donald A. Thomas, the 13th Ilan Ramon International Space Conference, February 2018

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Favier, Jean-Jacques 1949 births 2023 deaths French materials scientists French spationauts People from Kehl Grenoble Alpes University alumni Grenoble Institute of Technology alumni 20th-century French scientists 21st-century French scientists Space Shuttle program astronauts CNES personnel