Science & Exploration Space viking: Andreas Mogensen unveils mission logos 10/10/2014 5828 views 46 likes

ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen today unveiled the patches that will accompany him on his iriss mission aboard the International Space Station next year.

Andreas will be launched from Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, on a Soyuz spacecraft in September 2015 and be back on Earth within two weeks. This short mission offers excellent opportunities to test new technologies and return samples and results to scientists quickly. An ESA astronaut usually has one logo per mission but Andreas has added another to emphasise his educational programme that will use iriss to inspire youngsters. A competition in Andreas’s home country of Denmark attracted 500 entrants, with two designs chosen by an expert jury to represent iriss and Andreas.

Andreas The winner for the mission logo, Poul Rasmussen, was inspired by the Greek goddess Iris, who is often depicted with wings. The wings in the design also represent a Viking ship as used to explore the world and seek unknown horizons. The iriss name is written in two colours to highlight that Andreas is leaving Earth for the International Space Station, or ISS. Stars and planets appear above the name in stylised orbits.

Spaceship education iriss education logo While the Space Station is teaching engineers and scientists about the world around us and how to live and work in space, Andreas will use his mission to inspire children to continue learning. His educational logo was designed by 19-year-old Louise Nielsen, who adopted the same colours as the mission logo. The design shows Andreas heading into space on a rocket. Meanwhile, Andreas continues to prepare for his mission, travelling the world to train in Russia, USA, Japan, Canada and Europe for his out-of-this-world experience. This summer he spent a week underwater on a NASA training mission testing some of the technology he will use in space next year. You can follow Andreas’ progress as he regularly publishes video diaries of his adventures on ESA’s YouTube channel.