ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen’s Huginn mission is now underway
Andreas Mogensen will be Commander of the International Space Station during his mission, called Huginn. Credit: ESA/NASA.
05 September 2023
26 August 2023 was a very special day for ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen! Sat inside a Crew Dragon spacecraft called Endurance, he was blasted into space on a powerful Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA. His destination: the International Space Station!
Andreas was not alone on this exciting journey. Beside him in the Crew Dragon were three other members of Crew-7: NASA’s Jasmin Moghbeli, JAXA’s Satoshi Furukawa, and Roscosmos’ Konstantin Borisov. The pressure was on Andreas though, as he was the pilot and so in charge of the spacecraft’s control, performance, and systems.
Docking with the International Space Station is a complex procedure that must be carried out perfectly to ensure the safety of the astronauts. Andreas handled this very well, and after a 30-hour journey the Crew Dragon Endurance successfully docked, and the hatch was opened. This marked the official start of Andreas’ mission, called Huginn.
Andreas will be on board the International Space Station until early 2024. During this time, his Huginn mission will see him take on the role of Commander of the International Space Station. He will also be helping to conduct over 20 European science experiments. These include:
Sleep in Orbit. Andreas will wear a special device in his ear as he sleeps, to investigate brain activity and sleep stages.
Circadian Light. LED lights with specific wavelengths will be used in Andreas’ living quarters, following a natural pattern of sunrise and sunset, just like on Earth, to help see how sleep patterns are affected by being in space.
VR for Exercise. Astronauts need to do two hours of exercise a day, six days a week, to keep their bodies healthy in space. Andreas will try using an exercise bike while wearing a virtual reality headset that shows different environments, such as mountain bike tracks surrounded by green nature scenes.
Metal 3D Print. Andreas will use a new metal 3D printer to see how printed metal shapes expand and shrink compared to those made on Earth.
LaPlace. This experiment will study how tiny dust grains eventually grew into rocky planets like Earth.
Surface Avatar. Andreas will try using force-sensitive controls onboard the International Space Station to remotely control robots on Earth.
Multi-Needle Langmuir Probe. Called m-NLP for short, this experiment will examine how particles from the Sun affect parts of Earth’s atmosphere.
Aquamembrane. Special materials and pumps will filter wastewater onboard the International Space Station to try and make it clean again.
Andreas will spend much of his time working in ESA’s Columbus module, a high-tech science laboratory in space! Credit: ESA/NASA.
Andreas will spend his first two weeks onboard getting used to floating in space and his new routine. Before long he will be hard at work, commanding the International Space Station and conducting cutting-edge science. Good luck, Andreas!
Cool fact: Andreas is Danish, and is the first European to pilot a Crew Dragon spacecraft!
