Andreas Mogensen returned to Earth in mid-March after a six-and-a-half month stay on the International Space Station. To commemorate his tenure as part of NASA’s Crew 7 mission, the Danish European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut shared a Dock Day souvenir. Guided video tour ISS.
It’s been a month since I quit International. @Space Station.
One of the last things I did on undock day was photograph a tour of the space station. It’s both a keepsake for me and a way to share the wonders of the International Space Station with you. pic.twitter.com/oFR0VXR06A
— Andreas Mogensen (@Astro_Andreas) April 12, 2024
“It’s been a month since I quit my job.” [ISS]” Mogensen Posted on X early Friday morning. “…this is both a keepsake for me and a way to share the wonders of the International Space Station with you. When I miss my time on the ISS, especially when I miss everyone on board, I watch this video You will definitely see it.”
Mogensen began show-and-tell at the front end of the space station. Above, SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, which docked on March 12, was waiting to bring Mogensen home. To Mogensen’s left is the roughly 114-by-22-foot Columbus module, or science lab. In 2008 he was provided by ESA. Opposite the laboratory was the small Japanese Experiment Module (JEM), nicknamed “Kibo,” which arrived shortly after Columbus.
From there, Mogensen has a first-hand view of various other ISS facilities, including workstations, storage units, bathrooms, gym equipment, multiple docking nodes, and even the station’s kitchen. Of course, given the delicate environment, the module looks more like another laboratory than a place where you’ll actually cook your meals. Probably because no one is actually cooking anything there.
But the most amazing area of the entire ISS is definitely the cupola. From there, you’ll get a 360-degree panoramic view of Earth and get a good idea of the space station’s overall size.
[Related: What a total eclipse looks like from the ISS.]
Speaking of which, Morgenen’s video does a good job of showing how small the ISS really is, even though modules and instruments have been added over the past 25 years. It is 356 feet long, just a yard short of the length of a football field, but the modules and transport space are just a few feet wide. Take into account the large amount of cargo, equipment, supplies, experimental materials, and overages. 8 miles of cabling The electrical system has wiring, making the living environment quite harsh. Near the end of Mogensen’s tour, it takes him just over a minute to glide most of the entire station and return to his original starting point.
Of course, none of that detracts from one of humanity’s most monumental achievements in space exploration. As the ISS nears the end of its tenure (scheduled for decommissioning in 2031), Mogensen’s memorabilia is a great record of what life was like aboard the spacecraft. But for those looking for a more in-depth tour, there’s always NASA’s virtual walkthrough.
