I don’t believe that last statement to be correct - Maurer was added to astronaut corps later than the others in the ‘Shenanigans’ cohort and Peake, Cristoforetti, Pesquet and Parmitano have all spent longer in space.

Ahem - *human* spaceflight. Ta.

Thanks for the info! I wonder how much Germany committed to ensure that decision.

Artemis IV the earliest - and not to the surface. Two German astros - Gerst and Maurer - have repeatedly expressed their desire to go to the Moon, so I reckon it'll be one of them. But when A IV flies is very much TBD, of course.

PLD Space want to launch Miura 5 from Etlaq, but they’ve not broken ground on an orbital pad yet. Exciting to meet the team and see what they’ve achieved so far - plenty of potential. Love the fact that the site manager, often alone out there, has created a small garden a bit like The Martian! :)

Had a really interesting time in Oman, accidentally meeting their Olympic football team, swimming with turtles, and then spending the night at Etlaq - the first spaceport in the Middle East. We’re hoping to bring students here to launch little rockets.

I’ve just heard that @esa has observed an X class solar flare, which could impact GNSS services in Europe. Wondering if it will reach the Middle East since I’m flying twice today.

Next time try Cite de l’espace in Toulouse - part museum, part experience, super engaging.

Ooh! Not sure! The other large pieces look a bit like a fairground ride?

Ooh thank you so much! Let me check that out.

Such a missed opportunity. I really can’t get my head around it.

On a brighter note, the Soyuz lighting and display allowed me to spot something I’d not seen before. The rather wonderful - simple - instructions in Russian and English explaining how to open the capsule in case it landed in the wrong place. ☺️

What they have is beautifully displayed. If you treat it as a sculpture gallery where you don’t need to fully understand the sculptures, rather just admire them, then it’s a joy. But there’s no strong takeaway, no story or context, it feels like such a huge missed opportunity, and that makes me sad.

For a nation that is apparently recognising the importance of space as critical infrastructure, it’s confusing. We’ve folded UKSA back into DSIT, TRUTHS mission funding axed, and the national science museum doesn’t even mention the UK has a space agency.

There’s nothing to show the full range of careers to aspire to, nothing showing how it went from major space powers to commercial companies able to do things like send people to space. There’s no mention of Space X.

The British space story is not properly told, nor the importance of collaboration.

There’s nothing about the space shuttle, nothing about Mars rovers (which have UK instruments), unbelievably nothing about the ISS. Nothing to say how many people are in space right now, how climate change is monitored from space, how tech we hold in our hands was developed for space.

The thing that upsets/confuses me though, is the lack of narrative. There’s no timeline, there’s no context, there’s no strong link to current and future missions - say to the Moon or Mars.

There’s nothing to explain why you should care, how space impacts you, how old tech has evolved to current..

It’s tucked away to the side, next to a cafe, not like the old gallery that everyone walked through. This feels a shame. But people who love space will still find it.