ISS astronaut Marcos Pontes (born 1963). Flight Engineer Pontes at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, as he prepares to travel to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of the Soyuz TMA-8 mission. Soyuz TMA-8 was the 29th manned flight to the International Space Station (ISS). On this flight, Pontes became Brazil's first astronaut. He spent eight days working on the ISS, and then returned to Earth with the Expedition 12 Crew. Photographed on 30 March 2006. The flight launched later that day.