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English - 100 days of Cosmic Kis

On 11 November 2021, ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer was launched to the International Space Station for his first mission, Cosmic Kiss. Around 100 days later, we reflect on some highlights from space.

Matthias flew to the Station on a SpaceX Crew Dragon alongside NASA astronauts and fellow first-time fliers Kayla Barron and Raja Chari, and NASA spaceflight veteran Tom Marshburn. Collectively known as Crew-3, they were welcomed as members of Expedition 66 by Commander Anton Shkaplerov, cosmonaut Pyotr Dubrov and NASA’s Mark Vande Hei.

While in orbit, Matthias is supporting over 35 European

Video: 00:01:02

The 3 m-long magnetometer boom of the Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (Smile) is deployed under helium-filled balloons to simulate the weightlessness conditions of space.

Smile is a joint mission between ESA and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and will aim to build a more complete understanding of the Sun-Earth connection by measuring the solar wind and its dynamic interaction with the magnetosphere.

The structural and thermal model of the Smile payload module is currently undergoing testing at the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in Noordwijk, the Netherlands. Missions frequently come ‘home’ to ESA’s technical

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