⛰️ Mount Taranaki from the ISS. One mountain to rule them all? Hard not to think of LoTR when looking at a landscape like this. #WallpaperWednesday #ISS #EarthFromSpace @esa @esa_fr @nasa @Space_Station @PureNewZealand ©ESA/NASA–T. Pesquet • Retouches : L. Wallendorff @dpc313

⛰️ Le mont Taranaki vu depuis l’ISS. One mountain to rule them all ? ⛰️ Difficile de ne pas penser à Tolkien devant un paysage pareil. #WallpaperWednesday #ISS #EarthFromSpace #WallpaperWednesday #ISS #EarthFromSpace @esa @ESA_fr @nasa @Space_Station @PureNewZealand ©ESA/NASA–T. Pesquet • Retouches : L. Wallendorff @dpc313

🇬🇧✈️ The test pilot course is coming to an end. 📚 After nine months of hard work, more than 300 hours of classroom instruction, over 100 flight hours (plus a few more in the simulator) across 14 different aircraft types, and countless hours spent preparing missions and writing reports, last week was all about the final evaluations. 🏫 Throughout the year, we trained at Airbus in Toulouse alongside test pilots and flight test engineers, following a programme that has existed since the late 1990s. But the real moment of truth awaited us at EPNER, the French Test Pilot School and the only institution in France authorized to award flight test qualifications. 🛩️ It was therefore in this legendary place—where so many chapters of French aviation history have been written—and aboard aircraft operated by DGA Essais en Vol, that we were put through our paces. The final phase consisted of a series of increasingly demanding flights: an initial assessment on the TBM 940, an Alphajet conversion, the dreaded spin test flight, and finally the final evaluation sortie. As always, each mission was flown in close cooperation with our flight test engineer teammates, prepared in meticulous detail, and followed by thorough debriefings with the instructors. 🌟 It has been a privilege to discover so many new aircraft and to benefit from the experience, expertise and feedback of an exceptional team. 🤝 My sincere thanks to everyone at EPNER for their warm welcome and professionalism, and best wishes to the EPNER Class of 2025, who still have a few weeks to go before reaching the finish line. 🙏 These words are sometimes used too casually, but I am genuinely grateful to the Airbus Flight Test instructors who have taught us so much since day one, to the EPNER instructors who helped us across the finish line, and to my classmates from the 2025 cohort. We supported each other every step of the way as we climbed this mountain together, and I have immense respect for every one of them. 🏔️ The flights were far from perfect—none of us are—but they went reasonably well. So, if all goes according to plan, we’ll be stepping onto the stage on July 9th and earning a new set of wings. 🪽🎓✈️ @Airbus @ISAE_officiel @enacfrance

🇬🇧 English subtitles anyone? #NewMission #PAM6 #TeamSpaceFrance @vast @esa @ESA_fr @CNES @Arno_astro @Soph_astro