ESA title
Luca Parmitano

Beyond: one year since Luca’s landing

Posted on Saturday February 6th, 2021 by Ally

Saturday 6 February marks exactly one year since ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano returned from his second mission to the International Space Station. In that time, the world has changed significantly due to the spread of COVID-19.   The Italian astronaut who would have usually shared his knowledge and experiences with European citizens in person, has […]

Saturday 6 February marks exactly one year since ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano returned from his second mission to the International Space Station. In that time, the world has changed significantly due to the spread of COVID-19.  

The Italian astronaut who would have usually shared his knowledge and experiences with European citizens in person, has been doing so via social and digital media. To commemorate one year since his landing, we’re resharing some of our favourite posts. 

  • Luca’s four spacewalks to maintain the cosmic-ray-detecting Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS-02) with NASA astronaut Andrew Morgan were a major highlight of the Beyond mission. Assembled by an international team of scientists, the detector was installed outside the International Space Station in 2011 and has since collected valuable cosmic-ray data. Thanks to the maintenance and upgrades, AMS-02 can continue its search for dark matter and antimatter for the lifetime of the Space Station.

  • During the second part of his Beyond mission, served as the third European and first ever Italian in command of the International Space Station. Before leaving the Station, he handed this role over to Russian cosmonaut Oleg Skripocha in a traditional change of command ceremony.

  • In late November 2019, Luca took control of a ground-based rover to pick up and collect rock samples in a mock-lunar environment from space. The Analog-1 test project had multiple technical goals. High among them was to assess the use of ‘force-feedback’ controls in space, to evaluate if this technology would enable high-precision robotic control in weightless conditions. While selecting rocks Luca received advice from a team of geological experts based at ESA’s astronaut centre (EAC) in Germany, simulating a real-life surface exploration survey.

  • While in space, Luca kept a close eye on Earth through the Cupola observatory. He captured many incredible images, among them were a number that reminded us of the fragility of our planet and our responsibility to future generations.

  • Among all the hard work, exercise, spacewalking and science onboard, Luca and his crew still found time to celebrate. Thanks, Luca, for a memorable mission!

 

Luca is now based at ESA’s astronaut centre (EAC) in Cologne, Germany where he is working as team lead for astronaut operations.