Alexander Gerst, born May 3, 1976 in West Germany, is an astronaut for the European Space Agency. He has been in space twice. His first into space was aboard Soyuz TMA-13M as flight engineer in May 2014 to the International Space Station. He participated in Expeditions 40 and 41. He returned to Earth in November 2014. His second trip was aboard Soyuz MS-09 in June 2018 as flight engineer to the ISS. He participated in Expeditions 56 and 57. He returned to Earth in December 2018.