Q317643

Marcos Cesar Pontes is a Brazilian Air Force pilot, engineer, AEB astronaut, politician and author. He became the first South American and the first Lusophone to go into space when he docked onto the International Space Station aboard Soyuz TMA-8 on 30 March 2006. He is the only Brazilian to have completed the NASA astronaut training program, although he switched to training in Russia after NASA's Space Shuttle program encountered problems. After Jair Bolsonaro's election as President of Brazil in 2018, Pontes was officially nominated to be Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, a post which he accepted days later and assumed when Bolsonaro's government began. He left the post on 31 March 2022 and in the same year was elected federal senator for his state, São Paulo.

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1963 Website,  Wikimedia, Wikidata
Marcos Cesar Pontes
astronaut, engineer, writer, fighter pilot, politician, Santos-Dumont Merit Medal, NASA Astronaut Group 17, Brazil, 

NASA Astronaut Group 17, 

​ ​ ​ ​

• 

  Missão Centenário ⓘ
  

• 

  Soyuz TMA-7 ⓘ
  transport mission

• 

  Soyuz TMA-8 ⓘ
  mission to the International Space Station

Brazil, Soyuz TMA-8, NASA Astronaut Group 17, 

1963-03-11T00:00:00Z

1963-03-11T00:00:00Z

1963 Marcos Pontes

2005-10-01T00:00:00Z

2005-10-01T00:00:00Z

2005 Soyuz TMA-7

2006-03-30T00:00:00Z

2006-03-30T00:00:00Z

2006 Soyuz TMA-8

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Frameless

Marcos Pontes

Marcos Pontes autograph

Marcos Pontes2

Marcos Pontes4

Marcos Pontes2

Marcos Pontes4

Astronauta Bandeira LH

Astronauta Bandeira LH

Marcos Pontes, o primeiro astronauta brasileiro dando um autógrafo no Aeroclube de Bauru, local que serviu de fonte de inspiração quando criança para chegar ao céu e depois ao espaço. - panoramio

Marcos Cesar Pontes (16317743612)

• Samba im Weltraum: Brasilianer fliegt zur ISS - Wikinews article, German, 2006

Type	Subtype	Date	Description	Notes	Source
event	spaceflight		Missão Centenário	space mission, expedition to the International Space Station	Wikidata
event	spaceflight	2005	Soyuz TMA-7	human spaceflight, Soyuz-TMA	Wikidata
event	spaceflight	2006	Soyuz TMA-8	human spaceflight, Soyuz-TMA	Wikidata
commons	image		Marcos Pontes		Commons
commons	image		Marcos Pontes autograph		Commons
commons	image		Marcos Pontes2		Commons
commons	image		Marcos Pontes4		Commons
commons	image		Marcos Pontes2		Commons
commons	image		Marcos Pontes4		Commons
commons	image		Astronauta Bandeira LH		Commons
commons	image		Astronauta Bandeira LH		Commons
commons	image		Marcos Pontes, o primeiro astronauta brasileiro dando um autógrafo no Aeroclube de Bauru, local que serviu de fonte de inspiração quando criança para chegar ao céu e depois ao espaço. - panoramio		Commons
commons	image		Marcos Cesar Pontes (16317743612)		Commons