As of 2008[update], he was one of the top 25 astronauts in terms of total time in space. With his wife and two sons he lives in Wahnbek (near Oldenburg) in Lower Saxony.
In 1982, Reiter received his diploma in aerospace engineering from the Bundeswehr University of Munich. In 2010 the university awarded him a honorary doctoral degree. He completed his training as a pilot in Germany and Texas.
He served as an onboard engineer for the Euromir 95/Soyuz TM-22 mission to the Mir space station. During his 179 days aboard Mir, he carried out two EVAs and became the first German astronaut to perform a spacewalk.
Between 1996 and 1997, he underwent additional training on the Soyuz spacecraft and was awarded a "Soyuz Return Commander" certificate, qualifying him to command a three-person Soyuz crew during its return from space.
He trained for a six-month mission to the International Space Station and was launched on the Discovery STS-121 mission to join Expedition 13. The launch date was set for 1 July 2006, but was moved to 2 July, and finally launched on 4 July 2006 due to weather delays. Discovery departed 15 July, leaving Reiter behind with Expedition 13. He later became part of Expedition 14 before returning to Earth aboard Discovery during the STS-116 mission.
His ISS mission was designated Astrolab by the European Space Agency.
Reiter has logged just over 350 days in space, the most by any non-American or non-Russian.
On August 8, 2007 Thomas Reiter was named a member of DLR's executive board. On March 17, 2011 he was appointed Director, now being responsible for training of astronauts, microgravity research, operations of space-based infrastructure and ESA satellite missions.
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