New ways to space

ESA project astronaut Marcus Wandt in a training version of the European International Space Station module Columbus learning to operating robots from space at ESA’s technical heart ESTEC in The Netherlands.

The first in the new generation of ESA astronauts is getting ready to jump on a commercial spaceflight opportunity with Axiom Space.

Marcus Wandt, 43, was selected in November 2022 as a member of the ESA astronaut reserve after a year-long selection process. The 2022 ESA recruitment campaign received over 22 5000 applications from across its Member States.

Now the Swedish National Space Agency (SNSA) and ESA are cooperating to support Marcus’s mission using a commercial fast-track.

“What an exciting year! Everything took off so much faster than I ever would have expected!” said Marcus in his first tweet as an ESA project astronaut. The Swedish astronaut officially joined the European Astronaut Corps in this month.

“You could instantly tell that there was something special about Marcus when he entered the room for his final interview to become an astronaut,” said ESA director of Human and Robotic Exploration David Parker during a press conference in Stockholm, Sweden, on 16 June.

Marcus unveiled his mission name, Munnin, and patch. Muninn takes its name from Norse mythology and the two raven accomplices of the god Odin – Muninn and Huginn. Muninn comes from the Old Norse word munr, that can be translated as passion and emotion, linking to Marcus’s enthusiasm for spaceflight. Huginn is the name of ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen’s International Space Station mission.

The patch shows the raven gliding around Earth to share the knowledge collected from Marcus’s mission and has several references to Marcus’s homeland and his career as a jet and test pilot for the Swedish Air Force.  

The Swedish astronaut is following an intensive training programme to meet the high standards required for space flight. Marcus has followed lessons at the European Astronaut Centre in Germany and at ESA’s technical heart in the Netherlands, ESTEC. From teleoperating robots to virtual tours around the International Space Station and fundamental physics experiments, Marcus’s learning curve is steep.

ESA and SNSA are working on an ambitious scientific, technological, and educational programme for Marcus’s space mission.