On Wednesday, it blasts off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Swedish-Norwegian Marcus Wandt then becomes the first astronaut in space with Norwegian citizenship. – I’m really looking forward to it. I haven’t bothered so far. There is a tension, but it is positive. When you have prepared something for a long time, and very intensively, you know that “now is the time”, says Wandt to news. At 23.11 Norwegian time, Wednesday 17 January, Wandt will be launched to the International Space Station (ISS). He will be one of four astronauts on a mission with the company Axiom Space, and the first astronaut from ESA (European Space Agency) on a commercial mission. Here is the entire “Axiom Mission 3” crew during training. Photo: SpaceX / Imagery Courtesy of Axiom Space Facts about the launch “Axiom Mission 3”: Is the first pan-European astronaut mission to the International Space Station The mission is carried out by Axiom Space and is supported by, among others, ESA, the Swedish space agency SNSA and the Swedish aircraft manufacturer Saab Axiom is a commercial company that specializes in facilitating space travel. SpaceX provides the transport itself, while Axiom organizes the journey and the missions on the space station. The launch takes place with a Crew Dragon spacecraft and a Falcon 9 launch vehicle from SpaceX ESA is doing this to show that short missions in space with quick training time will be useful both for research, education and inspiration. Marcus Wandt will be launched with three other astronauts. Walter Villadei, pilot on the mission and colonel in the Italian Air Force. Turkish Alper Gezeravci is on board as a mission specialist, and the commander is Michael López-Alegría, former astronaut at NASA. Source: Norwegian Space Center/news – I think it will be strong Something astronaut Wandt is looking forward to is opening the door to the space station for the first time. – I think that will be strong, it is one of the parts of the assignment that I think can be the strongest, he says. Here, Marcus Wandt stands next to the SpaceX Dragon capsule that will take him to the International Space Station. Photo: Axiom Space However, going to space has not been a lifelong dream for Wandt. – When I really realized that I wanted to be one, it was only a couple of years ago. When I saw the European Space Agency came out and said they were looking for new astronauts, he says. And he applied and got it: In competition with over 22,500 applicants, he was presented as one of 17 new ESA astronauts last summer. Wandt was placed as a reserve astronaut, but in an extraordinary way a space mission appeared where, with the help of Sweden, he got the opportunity. Would you like to become an astronaut? Yes, that would have been something! 🤩 No, I would never have dared to do that 😱 That’s the question…💸 Show result He has a background as a fighter pilot in the Swedish Air Force, and as a test pilot head of flight operations at Saab. The journey from Florida ends at the International Space Station, where they will be for two weeks. Photo: AP Proud to represent Norway Marcus Wandt is half Norwegian and has Norwegian citizenship. He has a Norwegian mother who is from Toten, and who now lives in Gjøvik. – If you ask her, I’m pretty much Norwegian, but also if you ask me, he says. Here, Wandt is training inside a SpaceX Dragon vessel. Photo: Axiom Space Growing up, he traveled a lot between Karlstad in Sweden and Reinsvoll in Norway, he explains. – I went to kindergarten there for a bit, and was back and forth a lot. We were always over to celebrate May 17 and watch Russian trains, he says. And Wandt still has friends and relatives in the area. – Norway is a big part of me, he says. Mother Anne-Torin Wandt Lynne has traveled to Florida to follow the launch with her family. – It’s really exciting, and I hope it will be a really nice experience, she says. The launch of the SpaceX rocket Falcon 9, on the Transporter-3 Mission, from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Photo: SpaceX According to Wandt Lynne, she is not nervous – at least not yet. – It will probably only come then. I have prepared a lot for it, but you never know how to react if something happens, she says. To do research On the International Space Station, Swedish-Norwegian Wandt will, among other things, conduct research and experiments on stem cells, bone mass, blood circulation, robotics and artificial intelligence. Marcus Wandt has completed his astronaut education and training for his mission in space in just eight months. Photo: P. Sebirot / ESA He and the other astronauts will be on the space station for 14 days, before finally landing in the Pacific Ocean. – We have a lot to do up there, so we have to get started as soon as we get up. But we are well prepared, so it feels very good, says Wandt. The International Space Station (ISS) Photo: Ap The space station orbits the Earth. The successor to “Mir”, which according to plan crashed in the Pacific Ocean off New Zealand in 2001. A collaborative project between NASA (USA), Roskosmos (Russia), JAXA (Japan), CSA (Canada) and ESA (Europe). AEB (Brazil) collaborates through NASA. Orbits the Earth at an altitude of 400 kilometers with a speed of 26,000 km/h. Has a crew of six people. 221 people from 18 countries have been on the space station since it was put into use in 2000. See where the space station is right now I think it’s fun – I think it’s fun first and foremost. It might inspire a little, says head of manned space travel and exploration at the Norwegian Space Centre, Arvid Bertheau Johannessen. He says that Swedish-Norwegian Wandt has been presented as Swedish, and that the Norwegian Space Center has not been involved in the process. – But we have known all along that he has dual citizenship. So he will be the first Norwegian citizen to go into space, he says. Head of department for manned space travel and exploration at the Norwegian Space Centre, Arvid Bertheau Johannessen. Photo: Stig Jarnes / Stig Jarnes Journalist at news and space enthusiast Hallvard Sandberg thinks it’s great and cool that Wandt is the first Norwegian in space. But he points out a significant difference: – When he is on board the international space station, he will have a Swedish flag on his arm, and not a Norwegian one, he says. Journalist and space enthusiast Hallvard Sandberg. Photo: news Johannesen explains that there were over 300 qualified applicants from Norway when ESA searched for astronauts last time. – But unfortunately it didn’t quite last over the finish line, he says. In any case, Scandinavia is well represented on the space station. Now, for the first time, there will be two Scandinavians on board the space station. Dane Andreas Mogensen has been there before. – So it will be very Scandinavian, and I’m looking forward to that, says Marcus Wandt.
ttn-69
Swedish-Norwegian Marcus Wandt (43) becomes the first Norwegian in space – news Innlandet – Local news, TV and radio
