Andrea Accomazzo

The Italian Andrea Accomazzo is the Flight Director of the mission that took the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Rosetta probe to the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. He ranks in the “top ten” list of the best scientists in the world, according to Nature 2014. Born in Domodossola, he became test pilot for the Italian Air Force and then graduated in aerospace engineering at Milan’s Polytechnic University. After spending several years working at Fiat Avio, where he followed the development of Vega and Rosetta projects, he joined the European Space Agency (ESA) as Spacecraft Operations Manager in 1999. Working directly for the Ground Segment Manager, he oversees the Flight Control Team of 13 engineers, analysts and controllers dedicated to Venus Express. Andrea enjoys living in Germany with his wife, who is a trained nurse. In his spare time, he visits the nearby Odenwald for hiking and biking.