April 12. On the International Day of Human Space Flight and the 60th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's flight, the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) hosted an online presentation of the astronaut of the European Space Agency (ESA) Thomas Pesquet as the FAO Goodwill Ambassador.

The ceremony was attended by FAO Director General Qu Dongyu, ESA Director General Johann-Dietrich Werner, as well as Permanent Representatives to the UN organizations in Rome of the leading space powers - Russia, France and the United States..

Thomas Pesquet will launch from Florida to the International Space Station Alpha on April 22 and he will spend 6 months in orbit. Among the tasks of his mission is to conduct global monitoring of agri-food systems, as well as to assess the degree of anthropogenic impact on the environment and biodiversity of the planet.

Earlier in his career Thomas Pesquet made a space flight aboard the Soyuz MS-03 spacecraft and spent 196 days on board the ISS.

The French astronaut's job as a Goodwill Ambassador will include raising awareness of FAO's efforts aimed at transforming the world's agri-food systems, making them more resilient, inclusive, efficient and sustainable, and also tackling food waste. In addition, an important aspect of his mission will be to draw the attention of the international community to the issue of food security and healthy nutrition as the main issues facing humanity.