First professional Brazilian astronaut, first South American, and the first Brazilian citizen to travel into space. A native of San Paulo, Pontes trained as an Air Force pilot and engineer before attending training at the Johnson Space Center (JSC) in August 1998 as a mission specialist. Following the space shuttle Columbia disaster, Brazil entered an agreement in 2005 with Russia to send Pontes to space. On 30 March 2006 Pontes flew aboard a Soyuz spacecraft for an eight-day mission to the International Space Station (ISS). After his flight, Pontes worked at JSC, where he was involved in the production of Brazilian parts for the ISS.