Pablo ÁLVAREZ from table tennis to space

Pablo ÁLVAREZ from Leon will become the third Spanish astronaut to fly in space after Michael LÓPEZ-ALEGRÍA (NASA) and Pedro DUQUE (ESA). He will be the second Spanish astronaut to work on expeditions outside planet Earth after Pedro DUQUE with the European Space Agency (ESA).

Pablo ÁLVAREZ the man from Leon in May 2007 climbed to the first step of the podium in the individual Class 9 competition in the Spanish Championship for players with Disabilities held in Suances.He is still conected to the table tennis having a national license with AD Coyanza.

ÁLVAREZ who was born in León in 1988 studied aeronautical engineering at the University of León to fulfill his space dreams and at just 22 years old the astronaut left his hometown to study for a master’s degree in aerospace engineering at the Polytechnic University of Warsaw (Poland).

After clinched the title in Spain ÁLVAREZ joined the Airbus company in 2011 working on very prominent aviation projects which served as a springboard to enter the exploration project ‘Rosalind Franklin of the ExoMars mission’ of the European Space Agency in 2017.

In addition in 2013 ÁLVAREZ once again got on the top step of the podium in the Spanish Team Championship.

Now Pablo will be part of the ESA astronaut team that could travel to space in the future.

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The European Table Tennis Union (ETTU) is the governing body of the sport of table tennis in Europe, and is the only authority recognized for this purpose by the International Table Tennis Federation. The ETTU deals with all matters relating to table tennis at a European level, including the development and promotion of the sport in the territories controlled by its 58 member associations, and the organization of continental table tennis competitions, including the European Championships.

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