Final flight of Muninn

The SpaceX Crew Dragon ”Freedom” with the Axiom-3 crew inside as they undocked from the International Space Station on 7 February at 14:20 GM/15:20 CET. ESA project astronaut Marcus Wandt together with Walter Villadei, Alper Gezeravcı and Michael López-Alegría spent 20 days in space, conducting science and technology demonstrations in a mission that can be described as a sprint. Marcus’s mission to the Space Station is called “Muninn” after one of the ravens of the Norse god Odin, complementing the Huginn mission of Andreas Mogensen, fellow Scandinavian, and ESA astronaut. Marcus was part of the first commercial spaceflight for an ESA astronaut, marking a new era where ESA project astronauts can gain valuable flight experience on short-duration missions. Despite the short time, Marcus conducted more than 20 European experiments during his Muninn mission, including operating robots on Earth from the Space Station and investigating how living in extreme and confined environments affect people’s physical and mental well-being. After a 47-hour trip back to Earth, Marcus and crew splashed down off the coast of Florida, USA, on 9 February at 13:30 GMT/14:30 CET. The picture was taken by ESA astronaut and current commander of the International Space Station, Andreas Mogensen, from inside the Crew Dragon “Endurance”.