Swedish astronaut Marcus Wandt, who is also a project astronaut at the European Space Agency (ESA), has shared breathtaking images of the International Space Station (ISS) from inside the orbital laboratory. Wandt, who was launched to the space station as part of Axiom Mission 3 on January 19, and reached the orbital outpost on January 20, has been living there for 18 days. Wandt and other Axiom Mission 3 crew members were scheduled to return to the Earth on February 6, 2024, but due to unfavourable weather conditions off the coast of Florida, the return has been postponed. Wandt has shared on X (formerly Twitter) four pictures of the space station clicked from inside the orbital laboratory.
In two of the pictures, one can see the Earth, clouds, and some modules of the space station. The other pictures are of the space station parts viewed through a window.
The space station orbits the Earth about 16 times every day, at a height of 408 kilometres above sea level. The speed at which the ISS orbits the Earth is eight kilometres per second. The orbital laboratory has been continuously occupied by humans since November 2000.
This is Wandt's first mission to space, and is known as Muninn. Muninn is the name of one of the two raven accomplices of god Odin in Norse Mythology. The other raven accomplice is Huginn. Together, Muninn and Huginn symbolise the human mind. ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen's second mission to the space station as part of NASA SpaceX's Crew-7 is called Huginn. He is currently on the space station.
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Wandt is the second Swedish ESA astronaut to fly to the ISS, after Christer Fuglesang, who went to the orbital laboratory in 2006 and 2009.
Axiom Mission 3 crew members other than Wandt are Michael López-Alegría, and Alper GezaravcI.
Wandt and GezaravcI are mission specialists.
GezaravcI is a fighter pilot with the Turkish Air Force, and the first Turkish astronaut to fly to space. Therefore, Axiom Mission 3 is also the first mission to send a Turkish astronaut to space.
Villadei is the eighth Italian astronaut to go to space.
Axiom Mission 3 is an important mission for Axiom Space because it will pave the way towards building Axiom Station, the world's first commercial space station.
As part of this mission, three countries — Italy, Türkiye, and Sweden — and the ESA have come together. This also marks the first time the ESA has teamed up with a commercial space firm to send a project astronaut to space.