ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet has revealed the name for his upcoming mission to the International Space Station: ‘Proxima’.
Earlier this year ESA held a competition to choose the name. There were more than 1300 entries, but Proxima was the winner! It was an idea by 13-year-old Samuel Planas, who lives in the city of Toulouse in France.
So, how did Samuel think of the name? He explains, “Proxima is the closest star to our Sun and is the most logical first destination for a voyage beyond our Solar System, but Proxima also refers to how human spaceflight helps people on Earth.”
The mission also has an exciting logo featuring stars with trails; colours for the Earth, Moon and Mars; lines forming the shape of the International Space Station; and planets that can either represent the Earth and Moon or the Moon and Mars, depending on how you want to look at it! The colours are also similar to those found on the French flag, which is fitting as astronaut Thomas Pesquet is French.
Congratulations to Samuel for thinking of the winning name, and Thomas for having such an exciting mission name and logo!
