An update from Columbus Control Centre in Germany, working 24 hours a day to prepare for Luca’s mission:

Luca at Columbus Control Centre in February.

As Luca’s launch on 28 May nears we are starting to  feel the excitement of the mission.

We are getting ready for Volare by preparing procedures, working on detailed plans for Luca and making sure that everything is in place before Luca arrives on the International Space Station. Right now the Columbus Control Centre is operating 24 hours a day.

Three crewmembers will leave the International Space Station on Monday, Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, cosmonaut Roman Romanenko and NASA astronaut Tom Marshburn. This is always a busy period, but this time will be even busier, as an unforeseen spacewalk, or EVA as we call them, is planned this weekend. A leak on the outside of the Station needs to be fixed. This means all control centres around the world are working hard to fit this change into their planning. At the Columbus Control Centre we need to complete a specific experiment before Monday.

Sometimes we don’t have time to realise that Luca’s launch is just around the corner.

Even though Luca is now in Russia and we are here in the Control Centre near Munich, our lives are entwined. Today we talked on the phone and when I told Luca that his first activities are already planned, we realised that the mission is about to start.  Next time we talk for a final check, Luca will already be in Baikonur getting ready for launch.

The best message I was able to pass to Luca today was : Luca we are GO !

Luca at Columbus Control Centre in February