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Swiss astronaut Claude Nicollier wows in the Moon Palace!
Claude Nicollier, the first Swiss astronaut, impressed people with stories from space in the Moon Palace in Herne on July 2, 2025.
Swiss astronaut Claude Nicollier wows in the Moon Palace!
On July 2, 2025, the Wanne-Eickel Moon Palace became the setting for an extraordinary evening: Claude Nicollier, the first and so far only astronaut from Switzerland, revealed fascinating stories from his time in space. Nicollier, who made four space flights as part of the American Space Shuttle program between 1992 and 1999, is known for his records as a European astronaut and for his significant contributions to the repair of the Hubble Space Telescope on two maintenance missions.
The evening not only offered exciting stories, but also impressive images and videos that illustrated Nicollier's impressive career in space. As an emotional gesture, he handed over a check to the Children's Hospice Service Ruhrgebiet e.V. during the event. This support is greatly appreciated and shows Nicollier's commitment to social projects.
Looking back on an impressive career
Claude Nicollier, whose first space flight took place in 1992, has spent over 1,000 hours in space, making him one of the most experienced European astronauts. His final flight, STS-103, also made him the first European astronaut to complete a spacewalk on a space shuttle. Nicollier gained crucial experience during his time at the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA, which led him into research and teaching in 2007. He fulfilled his big dream of becoming an astronaut in the 1980s when he successfully qualified as a member of the first group of European astronauts.
His achievements are not only important to the space community, but also inspire young people to become interested in science and technology. While conducting overhauls of the Hubble Space Telescope, he was instrumental in gaining important insights into the universe.
New captain's year for ESA
The evening with Nicollier coincided with the exciting news that Marco Sieber, 35 years old and from Bern, was officially accepted into the European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut corps. Sieber, who is now ready for future missions after completing his one-year basic training in Cologne, described his path to becoming an astronaut as a long-held dream. Together with him, Raphaël Liégeois, a Belgian neuroscientist, is now part of the new astronaut class, which consists of eleven members from eight different countries.
The new astronauts were selected from over 22,500 applications and are now preparing to fly on missions to the International Space Station between 2026 and 2030, where they will conduct significant scientific experiments. As part of their training, they not only learn the technical and biological basics, but also the Russian language for communication in the European part of the ISS.
This exciting evening and the positive news about new astronauts show that enthusiasm for space travel and the associated technologies is also very popular in Europe. The combination of Nicollier's impressive past and future prospects for new astronauts offers hope for an exciting era of space travel in Europe.