Franco Egidio Malerba (born 10 October 1946 in Busalla, Metropolitan City of Genoa, Italy) is an Italian astronaut and Member of the European Parliament. He was the first citizen of Italy to travel to space. In 1994, he was elected to the European Parliament on the lists of Forza Italia, serving until 1999.

Education

Organizations

Founding Member of the Italian Space Society.

Research activities

Industry experience

Military experience

Reserve Officer, Marina Militare. Served in 1974-75 (Sottotenente Armi Navali); was assigned to the Destroyer ITALIAN DESTROYER San Giorgio as Science Lecturer to the Naval Academy, and then to the Mariperman Technical Center in La Spezia working on ELF transmission systems.

Other skills

Obtained scuba diving license from the Calypso Scuba Club, Geneva (1984).

Flying status

Obtained Private Pilot License (College Park, Washington, D.C., 1973) and then the equivalent Italian flying license.

Spaceflight experience

After selection in 1989 as a Payload Specialist by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and NASA, he became a staff member of ASI and was assigned to the NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas, for training. In September 1991, he was designated Prime Payload Specialist for the TSS-1 Space Shuttle mission. Malerba flew as the first Italian citizen in space on STS-46 (31 July 1992 to 7 August 1992). He is now involved with the Italian Space Agency (ASI) manned space flight program follow-on activities.