ASTRONAUT

Marcos Pontes

1963 - Today

Photo of Marcos Pontes

Icon of person Marcos Pontes

Marcos Cesar Pontes (born 11 March 1963) is a Brazilian Air Force pilot, engineer, AEB astronaut, politician and author. He became the first South American and the first Lusophone to go into space when he docked onto the International Space Station aboard Soyuz TMA-8 on 30 March 2006. He is the only Brazilian to have completed the NASA astronaut training program, although he switched to training in Russia after NASA's Space Shuttle program encountered problems. After Jair Bolsonaro's election as President of Brazil in 2018, Pontes was officially nominated to be Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, a post which he accepted days later and assumed when Bolsonaro's government began. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in 34 different languages on Wikipedia. Marcos Pontes is the 282nd most popular astronaut (down from 219th in 2024), the 782nd most popular biography from Brazil (down from 710th in 2019) and the most popular Brazilian Astronaut.

Memorability Metrics

Loading...

Page views of Marcos Pontes by language

Loading...

Among ASTRONAUTS

Among astronauts, Marcos Pontes ranks 282 out of 556. Before him are Yury Usachov, Akihiko Hoshide, Robert L. Stewart, John Oliver Creighton, Steven R. Nagel, and Brewster H. Shaw. After him are Norman Thagard, Fei Junlong, Jean-Jacques Favier, Franz Viehböck, Pamela Melroy, and Vasily Tsibliyev.

Most Popular Astronauts in Wikipedia

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Contemporaries

Among people born in 1963, Marcos Pontes ranks 426. Before him are Viktar Babaryka, Milan Luhový, Lori Petty, Rand Paul, Candan Erçetin, and Stefan Pettersson. After him are Jens Hultén, Li Shufu, Kira Ivanova, David LaChapelle, Hiroaki Hirata, and Gavin Hood.

Others Born in 1963

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

In Brazil

Among people born in Brazil, Marcos Pontes ranks 781 out of 2,236. Before him are Júlio César Leal (1951), Falcão (1977), Leandro Domingues (1983), Lucas Paquetá (1997), and Deili Custodio da Silva (1980). After him are Adriana Esteves (1969), Dudu Cearense (1983), Charles Oliveira (1989), Carlinhos Júnior (1994), Osmar Donizete Cândido (1968), Vik Muniz (1961), and Ricardo Rosset (1968).

Others born in Brazil

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Among ASTRONAUTS In Brazil

Among astronauts born in Brazil, Marcos Pontes ranks 1. 

Brazilian born Astronauts

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous