Update from Volare mission directors at Columbus Control Centre in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany. From there a dedicated team is available 24/7 to provide Luca with total support during his mission.

We have started to develop the mission plan for Luca’s first week once he arrives on the International Space Station. His launch is planned for 28 May around 20:30 GMT which is 22:30 local time for us at Col-CC. At Col-CC we work around the clock so night launches are part of our job and do not affect our routine much. On the plus side night launches are more spectacular to watch.

Current planning is to perform a four-orbit manoeuvre such as with Soyuz TMA-08M, which means Luca will arrive approximately six hours after launch at its destination, the International Space Station. Normally the crew arrives after two days, so with this four-orbit manoeuvre Luca will arrive day earlier giving us  more time to work with him on the mission.

We have completed readiness reviews and have plenty of work planned for Luca but there is still a lot of work ahead of us in order to have everything ready for him. We are finishing the procedures that Luca has to execute while he is in orbit and we need get the scientific equipment ready to bring into orbit.

We will finish an exact and detailed plan of his activities about a week before his arrival.