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André Kuipers

Portrait photograph of André Kuipers

Photo: Lauren Harnett / Public domain

André Kuipers is a Dutch physician and astronaut of the European Space Agency, born on 5 October 1958. He became the second Dutch citizen in space when Soyuz TMA-4 launched on 19 April 2004, and returned to Earth 11 days later aboard Soyuz TMA-3. That made him the first Dutch astronaut to return to space. His second flight began on 21 December 2011 on Soyuz TMA-03M, and he spent the following months on the International Space Station as part of Expedition 30 and Expedition 31, returning on 1 July 2012. Wikidata records 192 days and 18 hours in space.

Born
5 October 1958
Country
Kingdom of the Netherlands
Flights
3: Soyuz TMA-3 (2003), Soyuz TMA-4 (2004), Soyuz TMA-03M (2011)
Time in space
192 days 18 hours
Stations visited
International Space Station, as part of Expedition 30, Expedition 31

Data as of 2 November 2026. Source: Wikidata (CC0). All people who have flown in space.

Videos on this topic

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André Kuipers’ Extended ISS Stay and Alexander Gerst’s Training

Spark

Duration 54:23

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Dates are when each video was first published on YouTube.