Marcus Wandt became the third Swede to be in space when the Axiom Mission 3 launched yesterday, one day later than scheduled.
The Swedish government wants to advance positions in the space area, and last night astronaut Marcus Wandt became the third Swede in space. After a successful launch from Florida, he began his space flight towards the International Space Station.
The Swedish Space Agency together with the European space organization ESA signed a letter of intent with the American company Axiom Space regarding participation in a planned space flight. In June 2023, it became clear that it was Marcus Wandt who would participate in the space flight. Yesterday, January 18, at at 22.49 (Swedish time) the launch was carried out from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA.
- The importance of space will only increase, both from a scientific and an economic perspective. Sweden is a small country but with an ambitious agenda. The sending of Marcus Wandt is part of Sweden's strengthened ambitions in the space area. The government also wants to strengthen Sweden as an engineering country and Marcus Wandt can inspire a future generation of engineers and natural scientists, says Education Minister Mats Persson.
Marcus Wandt will be on the International Space Station for two weeks. Among other things, he will carry out two Swedish experiments, one on stem cells for Uppsala University and one on ergonomics for the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), and participate in around twenty international experiments in material physics, life science, biotechnology and more.
On Friday, January 19, Mats Persson will, among other things, meet the Consulate General of Sweden in New York, Business Sweden and the Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce. He will also visit Stuyvesant High School, which excels in mathematics and STEM, and Cornell Tech to discuss STEM research and the commercialization of research results. An informal meeting is also planned with the company OpenAI.
