Alexander Gerst is the second of ESA’s new astronauts to be selected to fly to the International Space Station. With a background in geophysics, he’s been a member of ESA’s Astronaut Corps since 2009. Scheduled for May 2014, Expedition 40/41 will see him undergo a long-duration mission in orbit, travelling to and from the ISS in a Russian Soyuz. He’ll be returning to Earth in November