Anthea Comellini facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Anthea Comellini
|
|
|---|---|
Comellini in 2025
|
|
| Born | 1992 (age 32–33) Italy
|
| Alma mater | Institut Supérieur de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace |
| Occupation | Engineer |
| Scientific career | |
| Thesis | Vision-based navigation for autonomous rendezvous with non-cooperative targets (2021) |
| Space career | |
| ESA reserve astronaut | |
| Selection | 2022 ESA Group |
Anthea Comellini (born in 1992) is an amazing Italian engineer who works with spacecraft. She is also a reserve astronaut for the European Space Agency (ESA). This means she is ready to train for space missions if needed.
Anthea earned her PhD in France in 2021. Her research was about how spacecraft can meet up in space. Before becoming a reserve astronaut, she worked on guiding spacecraft for ESA. She also worked on new space technologies at a company called Thales Alenia Space.
Contents
Anthea Comellini's Early Life
Anthea Comellini was born in Italy in 1992. Her mother was a seamstress, and her father was an architect. Her parents named her after a character from a TV show. They hoped she would have curly hair, just like the character and themselves!
Anthea grew up in a town called Chiari in northern Italy. She went to a science-focused high school in Brescia. When she was younger, she wanted to be a writer. In high school, she even won an award for her poetry. Anthea was also a competitive orienteer, which is a sport where you use a map and compass to find your way. She competed in the Junior World Orienteering Championships in 2011.
Becoming a Space Engineer and Astronaut
Anthea started her journey to space by studying engineering. In 2014, she earned her bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering. She studied at the Polytechnic University of Milan in Italy.
Advanced Studies in Space
Anthea continued her studies, earning two master's degrees in 2017. One was in space engineering from the Polytechnic University of Milan. The other was from a special engineering school in France, Institut Supérieur de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace (ISAE-SUPAERO). She also earned a master's degree from the Paris-Saclay University.
In 2021, Anthea completed her PhD at ISAE-SUPAERO. She worked with a space company, Thales Alenia Space, on her research. Her PhD focused on how spacecraft can find and connect with other objects in space. This is called "space rendezvous." During her PhD, she also spent six months researching in Canada.
Working with Space Missions
After finishing her PhD, Anthea worked as a flight dynamics engineer. She joined the European Space Agency's mission control center in Germany. There, she helped guide deep-space missions. She worked on exciting projects like BepiColombo, ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, Gaia, and Mars Express.
In 2022, Anthea joined Thales Alenia Space as an engineer. She works in their research and development department. Her job involves creating systems that control, guide, and navigate satellites.
Becoming a Reserve Astronaut
In 2022, Anthea was chosen as a reserve astronaut for the European Astronaut Corps. As a reserve astronaut, she continues her full-time job as an engineer. She will begin special training if she is needed for a future space mission.
