Huginn launches into space
In brief
ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen launched on 26 August as part of Crew-7 to the International Space Station for his second mission, called Huginn, at 08:27 BST (09:27 CEST).
The Dragon spacecraft is set to dock with the ISS at 14:05 BST/15:05 CEST on Sunday 27 August. Live coverage of the docking, ingress and welcome messages will be shown on ESA WebTV channel 2 from 12:15 BST/13:15 CEST.
In-depth
Launch
Crew-7 consisting of ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen, NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, JAXA astronaut Satoshi Furukawa and Roscosmos astronaut Konstantin Borisov took off in the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endurance on top of a Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA. Liftoff took place at 08:27 BST (09:27 CEST, 03:27 local time).
First European Dragon pilot
Andreas will be the first European to take the role as pilot on the Crew Dragon, sitting next to Jasmin, the Crew-7 commander. Andreas monitored the spacecraft’s performance and systems were working as expected during the flight to the Space Station, like a copilot in an aircraft.
“It is an honour to be the pilot of Crew Dragon, with our international partners showing their trust in ESA and my work,” says Andreas.
Quarantine and traditions
Before launch, the astronauts enter quarantine to ensure no unwanted bacteria or viruses make their way to the Space Station.
The astronauts headed to Endurance three hours before liftoff, around 05:30 BST (06:30 CEST). Before walkout, the astronauts went through a series of traditions such as playing a card game with the head of NASA’s Astronaut Office until the astronauts win a round. They also signed their name on the wall of the last room before getting into the Dragon capsule.
Journey to space
Just two and half minutes after liftoff the Falcon 9 first-stage booster separated from the rocket to land back on Earth. The second stage continued to bring the crew to orbit around nine minutes after liftoff. Once the second stage cut its engines, a zero-g indicator started to float in the Endurance spacecraft, letting the crew know they have reached orbit.
The trip to the International Space Station takes around 24 hours where they will dock. The Huginn mission will officially begin as soon as Andreas passes the hatch to Earth’s orbiting laboratory.
Follow Andreas’s mission on the Huginn page and his social media.
| Crew-7 launch schedule | |||
| Event | Local time in Florida (ET) | BST | CEST |
| Astronauts walk to the cars | 00:00 | 05:00 | 06:00 |
| Crew-7 drives to rocket | 00:05 | 05:05 | 06:05 |
| Arrival at pad 39a | 00:20 | 05:20 | 06:20 |
| Crew-7 enters Crew Dragon Endurance | 00:40 | 05:40 | 06:40 |
| Hatch closes | 01:27 | 06:27 | 07:27 |
| Launch | 03:27 | 08:27 | 09:27 |
| First stage separation | 03:29 | 08:29 | 09:29 |
| Second stage separation | 03:39 | 08:39 | 09:39 |
| Docking with ISS | 09:05 | 14:05 | 15:05 |
| Hatch opening | 11:02 | 16:02 | 17:02 |
| Welcome | 11:30 | 16:30 | 17:30 |