ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen is pictured during a ‘fit-check’ of the Soyuz TMA-18M spacecraft. On 2 September, the Soyuz will carry Andreas and crewmates Sergei Volkov and Aidyn Aimbetov to the International Space Station. As part of their preparations for the launch the crew inspect their spacecraft.
Following launch from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, at 04:34 GMT (06:34 CEST, 10:34 local time) on 2 September 2015 the crew will arrive at the Space Station just six hours later. Andreas and Aidyn will stay for just 10 days. They will leave Sergei on the Station and return to Earth in a different Soyuz together with Gennady Padalka, who is already in space.
On Sunday 23 August, Andreas will join us from quarantine in Baikonur for a Google hangout. Join the hangout
Connect with Andreas on social media at http://andreasmogensen.esa.int/
Follow the iriss mission via http://blogs.esa.int/iriss/