Born on 6 March 1946 in Douala, Cameroon, Patrick Baudry is a French Air Force fighter and test pilot, the second French citizen in space. Backup to Jean-Loup Chrétien for the 1982 Franco-Soviet mission, he ultimately flew on 17 June 1985 as a payload specialist aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery (mission STS-51-G), becoming the first Frenchman to take part in an American space mission. Selected alongside Chrétien by CNES in 1980, he later devoted himself to public speaking and to promoting aviation and spaceflight.