Expedition 26 was the 26th long-duration mission to the International Space Station.
 The expedition's first three crew members – one US astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts – arrived at the station on board Soyuz TMA-01M on 10 October 2010.
 Expedition 26 officially began the following month on 26 November, when half of the crew of the previous mission, Expedition 25, returned to Earth on board Soyuz TMA-19.
 The rest of the Expedition 26 crew – one US astronaut, one Russian cosmonaut and one ESA astronaut – joined the trio already on board when their spacecraft, Soyuz TMA-20, docked with the station on 17 December 2010.
Claude Nicollier (born 2 September 1944 in Vevey, Switzerland) is the first astronaut from Switzerland.
 He has flown on four Space Shuttle missions.
 His first spaceflight (STS-46) was in 1992, and his final spaceflight (STS-103) was in 1999.
 He took part in two servicing missions to the Hubble Space Telescope (called STS-61 and STS-103).
 During his final spaceflight he participated in a spacewalk, becoming the first European Space Agency astronaut to do so during a Space Shuttle mission (previous ESA astronauts conducted spacewalks aboard "Mir", see List of spacewalks and moonwalks 1965–1999).
 In 2000 he was assigned to the Astronaut Office Extravehicular Activity Branch, while maintaining a position as Lead ESA Astronaut in Houston.
 Nicollier retired from ESA in April 2007.
Luca Parmitano (born 27 September 1976 in Paternò, Sicily) is an Italian engineer and astronaut in the European Astronaut Corps for the European Space Agency (ESA).
 The astronauts work on missions at the International Space Station.
 He was selected as an ESA astronaut in May 2009.
Frank, Viscount De Winne (born 25 April 1961, in Ledeberg, Belgium) is a Belgian Air Component officer and an ESA astronaut.
 He is Belgium's second person in space (after Dirk Frimout).
 He was the first ESA astronaut to command a space mission when he served as commander of ISS Expedition 21.
 ESA astronaut de Winne serves currently as Head of the European Astronaut Centre of the European Space Agency in Cologne/Germany (Köln).
André Kuipers (] ; born 5 October 1958) is a Dutch physician and ESA astronaut.
 He became the second Dutch citizen, third Dutch-born and fifth Dutch-speaking astronaut upon launch of Soyuz TMA-4 on 19 April 2004.
 Kuipers returned to Earth aboard Soyuz TMA-3 11 days later.
The primary function of medical operations, centred at the Space Medicine Office (SMO) in the European Astronaut Centre, Cologne, Germany, is to maximize the operational effectiveness and minimize risks to the health of the European astronauts involved in human space flight activities.
 Furthermore, SMO also functions as a means of support to ESA astronaut families throughout their careers.
Franco Egidio Malerba (born October 10, 1946, in Busalla, Metropolitan City of Genoa, Italy) is an astronaut.
 He was the first citizen of Italy to travel to space.
Thomas Gautier Pesquet (born 27 February 1978) is a French aerospace engineer, pilot, and European Space Agency astronaut.
 Pesquet was selected by ESA as a candidate in May 2009, and he successfully completed his basic training in November 2010.
 From November 2016 to June 2017, Pesquet was part of Expedition 50 and Expedition 51 as a flight engineer.
Expedition 35 was the 35th long-duration mission to the International Space Station (ISS).
 The expedition started 13 March 2013, and marked the first time a Canadian astronaut – Colonel Chris Hadfield – was in command of the station.
 Expedition 35 was also only the second time an ISS crew is led by neither a NASA astronaut, nor a Roscosmos cosmonaut, after Expedition 21 in 2009, when ESA astronaut Frank De Winne was in command.
Michel Ange-Charles Tognini (born September 30, 1949 in Vincennes, France) is a French test pilot, Brigadier General in the French Air Force, and a former CNES and ESA astronaut who serves from 01.01.2005 to 01.11.2011 as Head of the European Astronaut Centre of the European Space Agency.
 A veteran of two space flights, Tognini has logged a total of 19 days in space.
 Tognini has 4000 flight hours on 80 types of aircraft (mainly fighter aircraft including the MiG-25, Tupolev 154, Lightning MK-3 and MK-5, Gloster Meteor, and F-104).
 He is fluent in English and Russian.

Question: Which astronaut was selected as an ESA astronaut in May 2009: Franco Malerba or Luca Parmitano?
Answer: Luca Parmitano