Association of Spacewalkers thanks WIA-E and TAS for their contribution during the WIA-E lunch at the XXIA ASE Planetary Congress.

Corporate Member Thales Alenia Space (TAS) sponsored the WIA-E lunch on October 4th at the XXIA ASE Planetary Congress, University of technology in Vienna, Austria, 3-7 October 2016.

Moderator: Barbara Imhof, WIA-E

• Simonetta di Pippo, Director United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs;
• Annamaria Nassisi, Manager Market Intelligence, Thales Alenia Space;
• Astronauts Sandy Magnus, US; Claudie Haigneré,  Europe; Chiaki Mukai,  Japan; Julie Payette, Canada.

Barbara Imhof of WIA-E moderated the event where main astronaut voices from the US, Canada, Europe and Japan talked about the importance of getting more women involved in the aerospace sector and about delivering sustainable support into top positions. Simona di Pippo, honorary president and co-founder of WIA-E, explained why she founded WIA-E. Annamaria Nassisi, representing the WIA-E lunch sponsor, held an igniting speech and demonstrated how a large European corporation, like Thales Alenia Space, can support the gender balance and the inclusion of female professionals on all levels.

Soichi Noguchi thanked WIA-E for supporting with their corporate member Thales Alenia Space this lunch; after the conversation with key figures of WIA-E and astronauts Susan Helms, Chris Hadfield and Mike Finck personally thanked WIA-E and TAS for their contribution to a gender balanced work environment and the event at the ASE conference.

Here under some photos of the event: