ESA astronaut Marcus Wandt is embarking on an exciting adventure onboard the International Space Station! He is spearheading a new generation of ESA astronauts that will go into orbit with spaceflight company Axiom Space. This will be Marcus’ first mission into space, and instead of spending months onboard the International Space Station, as astronauts often do, Marcus will instead spend an intensive 14 days there. His time will be focussed on conducting nearly 20 science and technology experiments, as well as running educational activities to inspire people back on Earth.
Marcus’ mission is called Muninn. This comes from Norse mythology. According to legend, the god Odin had two ravens to carry out tasks for him. They were called Huginn and Muninn. Huginn is the name of fellow ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen’s mission, and Muninn is Marcus’ mission.
This will be the first time two Scandinavians have lived and worked together in space!
The Muninn mission has a fascinating patch, which is like a logo full of meaning. A raven is flying around the world, sharing information about what it sees – just as in the Norse myth. The dark blue circle represents Earth, with the lighter blue lines being Sweden, Marcus’ home country. The colours yellow and blue were chosen because they are used in Sweden’s flag. Two white stripes are inspired by the International Space Station’s solar panels, while the lines coming from Muninn’s wing are a reminder of the shock waves Marcus used to make in his previous role flying supersonic jets as a test pilot for the Swedish Air Force. Supersonic jets are aeroplanes that can fly about twice as fast as passenger planes. That’s even faster than the sound travels that we can hear. Finally, the stars are in the shape of the Viking symbol for protection, and remind Marcus of beautiful snowflakes that fall across Sweden on cold winter days.
Cool fact: Marcus applied to be a member of the ESA astronaut reserve in 2022. The selection process took a year, and there were more than 22,500 applications!
