SpaceX Crew-7, Huginn mission patch, 2023

ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen (DK) is scheduled to fly on a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station on its seventh crewed operational flight called Crew-7, the 13th overall Crew Dragon orbital flight. Flying with commander NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, Andreas will serve as spacecraft pilot - the first non-US astronaut assigned in this capacity. Two more crew members have been named as JAXA astronaut Satoshi Furukawa and cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov. This crew will join Expeditions 69/70 on the Space Station.

The name of Andreas’s second mission to the Space Station is ‘Huginn’. Inspired by Norse mythology, the name is taken from one of two ravens who serve as helper spirits of the god Odin. Called Huginn and Muninn, these two birds sit on Odin’s shoulders and are sent flying across the world at dawn. They return at night to inform him of the many events they have seen and heard. In Old Norse, ‘Huginn’ means ‘thought’ and ‘Muninn’ means ‘mind’ or ‘memory’.

The mission patch itself, designed by ESA graphic designer Karen Lochtenberg, is rendered in the red and white of the Danish flag, and ESA’s own ‘Deep Space Blue’ colour.

The raven Huginn is depicted flying to the right, moving into the future as he glides over an Earth-rise horizon, which could also be seen as the Moon or Mars. His wing includes shading in the shape of Andreas’s homeland, Denmark, while the white of the wing’s highlight – referred to by the designer as the ‘swoosh’ – depicts the journey to the Space Station from Andreas’s birthplace in Copenhagen.

Two stripes on Huginn’s back depict the distinctive solar arrays of the Station, and represent Andreas’s second spaceflight. Six stars in the background form a constellation that resembles the Viking symbol for 'safe travels'.